Another time, Another place OTH STYLE
by FizzyPop's'n'FlipFlops.x
Summary: An argument in another time, two rival schools, two rival families, A timeless love story you'll never forget. I promise this is something new! Brooke/Nathan. Lucas/Haley. Rachel/Jake. Peyton/? Chase/Alex...lot's more
1. Prologue

A/N: I own everything except the OTH characters and Tree Hill

Brooke POV

The heat was unbearable. I could feel my skin burning despite the huge umbrella we were sitting under. The heat wave had been non-stop for two weeks now, without any signs of cooling down. The quickest to get to cool down straight from school was the new Slurpy's Smoothies, but it seemed like the entire student body of Tree Hill High had had the same idea because there was barely anyone around who I didn't recognise.

Slurpy's had opened a couple of months ago and was already the new and exclusive place to go for kids our age. On days like this where it was as hot as it was, the ice cream and smoothie parlour was packed, and it was certain you'd have to wait around for a table. There was only one table that was permanently reserved, the best table situated outside under the shade of the palm tree. It was kept open for the kids at the top of the social ladder in Tree Hill, the basketball players, and the cheerleaders and their respective partners. Now at this point, you're probably thinking how cheesy and American this has just gotten, or maybe you're thinking how unfair that was to everyone else, to have to wait around for a table. But you have to understand, in the small town that Tree Hill was, nobody had ever questioned it. These kids, were the children of the most upper class and richer residents of Tree Hill, and their parents practically owned all the businesses in the town.

The drinks were being passed down around the circular table to get to their owner. My strawberry special shake was placed in front of me and I shoved the straw into my mouth as fast as I could. Not enough of the icy goodness was coming up the straw fast enough so I moved the straw aside and drank straight out the glass. The icy frothy liquid was like heaven, and I felt my body cooling down. I finally set my drink down again and leaned back in my chair to see everyone else pre-occupied in their drinks.

The table under the palm trees, our table, was the only round table so I could see everybody perfectly. I was there with some of my best friends, people I had known since before I could walk.

I looked opposite me to see my best friend Peyton, sipping her ice tea with extra ice, forming her lips in an "o" shape to make sure she didn't smudge her lipstick, while every so often taking a short break to lick her lips seductively. I followed her gaze and scoffed to see out of all people who her behaviour was aimed at. Felix smirked at her and winked, and I rolled my eyes.

Uggh—Felix. I hated him with every fibre in my body and I had no idea why and what he was even doing her. Actually I did know why he was here, and it was all my Mothers fault.

You see my Father was going over negotiations with Felix's father for a very important business deal, to merge out two companies together, and they seemed to have concocted a ridiculous plan that getting me and Paul together would keep the business in the family. After graduation they wanted us to get engaged and go to Yale together. My mother had said it like it was no big deal. She told me Felix was a decent and sweet kid and had no idea why I was making such a fuss! Decent? Sweet? Nice kid? My ass. There was no way I would ever end up being Mrs Felix Taggaro, and the only way that would force me to live with Felix at Yale was if they dragged me kicking and screaming.

Now you see, Felix may appear to be decent and sweet and charming in front of my parents, but me to he would always be arrogant, self-loving, pushy and too conceited for his own good. But unfortunately, nobody but me could see the real him. Even when my Mother suggested it in front of Felix that he 'accompany' me to Slurpy's after school, I could hardly say no, knowing she wasn't actually asking my permission. I stopped myself saying anything rude to him, even when he said 'I would be delighted' in that totally fake British twang of an accent. I was hoping to ditch him when my Mother wasn't around, but he wasn't taking no for an answer. I was hoping my friends would all object to a 'newbie' joining us after school, a time when it was usually our gang sans partners would hang out unless they were already in the group, but to my annoyance they were all cool about it, even Peyton who for some strange reason thought he was God's gift to this earth, and was actually 'jealous' of me, so it wasn't even like I could complain about my misfortune to her.

Alex tied her hair back into a sloppy ponytail, and whined, "I can't stand it! I feel like I have no energy!" She rested her head on the edge of the table and sighed.

"Tell me about it! If it's still this hot tomorrow, I have no idea how I'm gonna be able to play," Chase said agreeing with her.

Lucas, my favourite cousin, and also captain of the basketball team, pushed his sunglasses onto his head, looking like the only one of us not affected by the heat.

"If you all took my advice and trained twice as hard, and drank six litres of water a day, like I told you, you would all be fine," he said.

The answer to this was a collection of moans from us all.

Lucas was unfazed. "Look, tomorrow is a game we can't afford to lose. Make fun now, but you will all be complaining when NC Prep beat us"

Technically, he was right. Even though he worked the team hard, it was always worth it.

"At least we have the masquerade party afterwards, focus on that," I said trying to help motivate the guys.

Everybody nodded in agreement. The game was one we couldn't lose, we were playing against North Carolina Prep, our ultimate rivals, in the gym and out. From the time I started High School, there had always been some sort of residing issue between our freshman class at Tree Hill High, and theirs at North Carolina Prep, and it had seen to have followed us all the way to our senior year.

We decided to have a masquerade ball a little over two weeks ago. Every senior class gets six school dances throughout the year. It was approaching the end of year and we still had three dances left. Uncoincidently it was my circle of friends who were on the committee for organising such events, I know you're probably thinking again, 'here's another thing that's not fair' but it has always been like this, so nobody questioned it. We thought we could make it our victory party for after the game. Us girls wanted something different from our usual parties taken over by alcohol and sex, and opted for a school sponsored dance. It had been a big hit with all the parents and teachers on the school board, and funding wasn't a problem since we had leftover money from the carwash last month and had all decided to rent the hot new club, The Garage, for the night.

My comment seemed to wake everyone up as we all started discussing the night. We stopped when Lucas stood up, "Ok its nearly five, we need to go on a run round the beach."

The boys were groaning, but started getting ready to leave all the same. Lucas ran a tough training schedule, and it seemed to be getting tougher the games that were played with NC Prep. It was pretty funny watching them complain, Lucas looked up at me.

"I don't know why you're all smirking , you're coming too! Our cheerleaders need to be full of energy too!"

Well, that certainly wiped the smiles off our faces, but still nobody argued since we all knew he was right.

Alex turned and said with a smile, "Yeah yeah, just keep your eye on the ball and after that, I promise it will all be worth it." She winked suggestively at Chase. They had been going out for over a couple of weeks now and they were still in that honeymoon faze, constantly at each other's side and being all lovey dovey. We were all getting pretty sick of it, considering none of us had really dated within the group before, and it gave the gang a new dynamic.

I was about to pick up and stuff to head over to the beach when a shadow fell over me. I knew who it was before the figure opened their mouth to speak.

"Well well, don't you think it's a little pointless to be planning a victory party?"

Rachel Gatina. She was the head cheerleader of Compton Academy, and basically a total bitch. I can't believe Lucas ever went out with her. I turned to see her standing there with the cheerleaders and basketball players of her school either side of her. What was weird was that they were basically us, but except in another school. Next to her was Jake Jagielski. He was captain of their basketball team. He stepped forward and stood closer to Lucas.

"Whether you like it or not, we're gonna win."

Jake was one of the few people that could get under Lucas's skin. What I think scares him the most is that they're very much the same. Before they started hating each other, they had gotten on well.

Lucas stood up to face Ben directly, "I wouldn't bet on that."

There was something wrong with this image, the NC Prep team were all smiling, a little too cockily.

Jake smirked. "Actually I would, seeming as we have a secret weapon."

Lucas made it seem like it didn't bother him, "I don't know if that's going to help you." I knew Lucas well enough to know from the look on his face he was getting tenser and tenser.

Jake took a step back from Lucas as if he were about to leave. "Lucas,Lucas, Lucas, you know you're going to lose, you know why?"

I don't think this was one of those questions that was meant to be answered. Everyone fell silent, holding their breaths and for some reason, there appeared to be a horrible look in Jake's eyes.

Jake turned and began walking away, then stopped and turned back to face us again. Dramatic much? I doubted anything he said would be able to push Lucas over the edge.

"Because Nathan Scott is back."

Ok, yeah well that would do it.

A/N: Ok, so I know so far it sounds pretty out there and very AU, but I promise it does get better and less cheesy, it just had to be a great big cheese-fest to get into the frame of mind of how the town works, and how they work as a group. I promise Jake won't be the bad guy, but it had to be done, for this chapter. Also Haley, and everyone will come into it, don't worry!

A/N Please read and review.!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N – just a bit of a filler chapter, it gets better, I promise **

**I know the characters are a little AU, but it will come together. **

**Just in case you're confused.**

**Brooke and Lucas are cousins. Peyton is Brooks best friend. This is a Brooke/Nathan story. And the other characters like Haley will come into it, just yet. **

Chapter 2

Nathan Scott. Well I haven't heard that name in a while.

Ok, so let's rewind about three years. These were the days when we used to be friends with the students of North Carolina Prep. Tree Hill, being the small town it was meant we had all pretty much grown up together. Most of us were at junior High together, and now we both attended the top two high schools in the area. We used to be a united force.

I don't remember much, since the incident had happened when I was still at Junior High. Lucas and many of my friends were all one school year ahead of me. I don't know what happened since nobody talks about it anymore. But whatever it was affected Lucas. I remember when he went through a really depressed stage, and nothing I did would cheer him up. But one day he just walked out of his room and was totally fine. I tried to talk to Lucas about what happened but whenever I brought it up he just got mad and told me to forget about it. It was already hard for Luke to trust people and let them into his lives but ever since then, he had put up an invisible barrier between himself and everyone else. Apart from me.

From what I can remember, one day Lucas was best friends with a guy called Nathan Scott. They met when they were both accepted into High Flyers basketball camp for the summer, and when they came back to Tree Hill, they still remained close friends, even though they both attended different schools. Then one day, a few years later they hated each other. By the time I reached Tree Hill High, our two schools no longer talked. Nobody would talk about what happened.

Lucas was used to being the top dog around here in regards to basketball, and coming out the victor in the weekly friendly games between the two schools on the Rivercourt, back when we used to hang out. From what Peyton told me things started going weird after a specific game three years ago where Nathan had managed to score the game point, causing Lucas to lose. Things began to get more competitive after that, and those friendly games we used to have, weren't so friendly anymore.

I personally don't see what the big deal is, it's just basketball, and it's no reason to cause such a big rift. But Chase once vaguely suggested more happened between the two boys than meets the eyes.

But the origin of the split between schools was soon forgotten, as Nathan's family, moved away to start another branch of his father's business.

So you can imagine the reaction of everybody who heard Jake announce he was back. I didn't know what to make of it. To be honest the incident happened years ago. Lucas had been training everyday and had definitely improved his basketball even more. We had no idea if Nathan even still played.

Obviously Jake had hit a nerve with Lucas because Lucas took a step forward as if he were about to throw a punch. Chase realised this and pulled Lucas back. Lucas was struggling to get out of Chase's grasp and Jake smirked, "Don't worry, I'll take first punch."

What happened next went so fast it was almost a blur. Jake stepped forward and punched Lucas straight in the stomach. It felt like I was stuck in a trance, I couldn't move, I was just watching. Somewhere in the distance, I heard Peyton scream. I gasped as Lucas doubled over in pain, but then recovered quick enough to hit a laughing Jake right back.

Right in front of me, a huge fight evolved. All the boys got involved.

People all around me were screaming.

Greg, the cafe owner ran out yelling, at the same time Larko Lorenzo, the Police officer who specialised in youths, and more importantly the schools feud, arrived.

Larko pulled a fierce Jake off of Lucas, and stood between them. Slowly all the people involved in the fight, stopped. The whole place was silent.

"Ok, I'm going to count to ten, for anyone who wasn't involved, please leave now." a scrambling heard of students who were just watching, ran out the café. Larko was known for often arresting audiences.

"Nobody moves," Larko yelled. "Who started the fight?" He asked nobody in particular. He was answered with numerous yells between each of our schools. Larko raised his hand to call for silence.

He looked between, Lucas and Jake.

"You two always seem to be in the middle of everything. Both of you, in the car NOW!"

Crap. Lucas couldn't be arrested for fighting again. Dad would flip.

Ever since Lucas's parents, my dad's sister and husband, had been in that accident, seven years ago, Lucas had moved in with us and it was as if he had always been here. He was like my brother and my best friend all in one.

I remember last time Lucas was arrested at the mall for fighting with Jake. Dad had said that it was his last chance. One more arrest and no basketball games for 3 weeks. That meant if he was arrested tonight, no game tomorrow night! I knew now that we would lose without Lucas! I had to try and stop him. It was if I was just released from my trance, the whole time I had been watching like it was a movie.

Larko and the boys were half way to the police car. I ran forward and walked along side them.

"Lookit'salljustamisunderstanding...they won't do it again, will you guys?" I tended to ramble when I was nervous.

I looked over to a handcuffed Lucas and forced a smile.

Larko looked amused, "No way boys, you pay for your mistakes."

I tried to interrupted, "But—"

Larko stopped and looked at me, and said in a calm voice, "Miss Davis, I don't think Charles would want both his children taken in; in one day, and I really don't want to arrest you too. "

Getting me arrested wasn't the plan. It was Lucas's turn to force a smile, "It's okay B, it wasn't only Jake's fault. I'll see you at home."

I wasn't sure why he was being so calm, surely he knew he wouldn't be able to play tomorrow.

Nevertheless, I nodded and they walked away, as Felix walked up to me.

He used that fake British twang of his, "It will be okay _B_," putting an arm around me.

I pushed his arm off.

"Firstly, only people I can stand call me B and secondly, don't ever put your arm around me again!"

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	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It's amazing how slow a clock can tick when you're staring at it. The clock on the wall seemed to be tormenting me as I sat here pretending to look slightly awake.

" Full Name?" the crabby school administration officer barked. She was making me feel guilty as if I had done something, especially in the way she kept looking me over with her crazy old lady beady eyes. She looked about forty and had her hair tied back in a tight no nonsense bun, and was wearing a full suit despite the scorching heat outside. She was looking at me questionably and I realised I was supposed to be answering her.

"uumm….Nathan Scott." She began to write it down when her expression suddenly changed. Oh great, I could see what was coming.

"As in Scott enterprises?" As much as I loved my family and the company, it really annoyed me that strangers always treated me differently as soon as they knew.

I sighed. "yep, that's the one." She sat up straighter and gave me, a great big toothy smile. She had spinach for lunch.

" Age ? " she asked sweetly , the tone of her voice drastically changing from earlier.

"Eighteen"

Then she put down her pen and reclined in her chair. " So, tell me about yourself." Oh she has got to be kidding! But I needed to get into this school the right way. I didn't doubt that I would get in with my family name. Even if I didn't my Dad would have just bought the school a new library wing or something but that's not how I wanted to succeed in life. So I just played along.

" Well I live with my parents and younger sister. I used to live here about two and a half, three years ago, but then my family moved to away to start the New York division. But I'm back now."

She shuffled the papers around on her desk as if she were looking through them. " Well dear, we have a very long waiting list , but just for you I managed to scoot a few people down and put you at the top. So that seems about it. "

Ok Nate, one last try. " I have my transcript—"

She interrupted. " No need , Mr Scott I believe you will be very happy in North Carolina Prep. If you need anything , anything at all you just let me know. My door is always open for you."

I guess I'm going to have to live with my name and the perks that come with it for the rest of my life. I accepted the welcome pack from her and headed out the door.

I headed towards where I remembered the basketball court to be, where Jake , my second cousin said to meet him. I was flicking through the welcome booklet when a sudden squeal made me jump. Across the field, Rachel, or a more grown up version of her ran toward me and jumped into my arms to give me a big hug. Although it was great to see her, seeing her brought back all those memories of who I used to be. Not exactly memories I wanted to remember.

" Ahhh my Nati Baby is back !" Nati Baby ? Oh god. I had "dated" her for about two days before I left and if I remember correctly she had been the one who didn't want to try a long distance relationship. I wasn't to upset, being with her just made me feel guilty. Oh well the past was the past and we'd all grown up.

"Hey Rach! How've you been?" I said whilst swivelling her round.

" Oh enough about me , look at you ! You look great !" she said and I smiled in appreciation. There was an awkward pause. I could tell she was fishing for a complement too. She was dressed in a very over the top way, in a sequined crop top and denim hot pants. I don't know how she got away with wearing that around school, even if it was after hours.

"Actually, I'm kinda running late. Can you take me to the court's. I have to meet Jake"

"Oh you haven't heard?" she looked at me as if I'd missed out on the biggest news on the planet. She then began to talk very fast and I only caught the odd word.

"Stupid…..Tree Hill High…..All their fault…Larko…..Fight"

Why would we have a fight with Tree Hill High? We got along well. The last time I saw them everything between schools seemed ok. What did I miss?

The court came into view. I interrupted Rachel. " Ok thanks babe" and I jogged on ahead before she had fully stopped talking. I could see what I assumed was the team running laps. As they saw me approach, they stopped and jogged up to me. I said a group hello to nobody in particular. They seemed very excited to see me, and they all started talking at once. I raised my hand for them to stop.

"One by one."

One of the guys who I remembered as Tim said , " Jake's been arrested and he may not be back for the game.

They all seemed to be looking at me, waiting for something. "What do we do ?"

Why were they looking at me like I was in charge? Before I left , sure I had been popular and captain of the team and the guys had looked up to me. But I figured whilst I had been gone everybody had grown up a bit. They were still silent. Apparently they hadn't.

"Ok, here's what we do."

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-R


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I am so happy to see the subscriptions! I thought nobody was reading the story! I would love if you would just leave a teeny review please !**

**ENJOY - Yes it is a bit short, but I promise I'll rush to put the next one up tomorrow if a get two reviews… =)**

Chapter 4- An unwanted guest.

I had repeatedly read the same sentence seven times already and it still wasn't any closer to making sense to me. This was useless, trying to study when I had other things on my mind. Lucas had been at the station for over two hours now, and Dad had already been called down. He'd been called while he was at work so I had no way of telling just how angry he was.

I really hoped they'd let him off with a warning because it was clear to anyone there that he had been provoked by Jake. The down side was that this hadn't been the first time Lucas had been taken into the Police station for fighting with Jake, and many of those times, he had been the one instigating the disagreement, so it wasn't even like we could play the victim card, making the matter even worse. My Dad had always been one of those people who always stuck to his word, so you can probably understand why my hope was low of my Dad letting Luke play basketball tomorrow night.

Without Lucas the fate of tomorrow's game wasn't looking good. It wasn't that the other players weren't good, because they were, and if it were any other match they would have won . But this was NC Prep and it was going to be a close call as it was.

Somewhere between reading the definition for mitosis again and taking a break to waste time by sharpening my pencils, I decided getting a drink would be a good way to pass the time. I slowly packed away my school books whilst thinking of ways I could convince my Dad to let this one go.

"Brooooke !" my Mother practically shrieked . I looked up at the sound of my name to see my mother standing in my doorway. She was giggling like a little school girl.

Finally she said in an unnaturally high pitched voice, "There's a visitor for you downstairs."

She wouldn't normally go out of her way to get me whenever any of my friends came over, she would just get one of the staff to do it, so I knew there must be a reason for her behaviour.

Starting to get up I began to wonder who it could be, since I wasn't expecting anyone. I made my way slowly down the glass spiral staircase pausing at the curve to see the visitor.

Oh for god's sake. This was the last thing I needed right now.

Felix was standing in the hallway looking at his reflection in the mirror. I stomped down the stairs, loudly sighing.

"What are you doing here!" I demanded, taking no action to disguise my frustration.

Felix turned sharply, startled by my tone. My mother walked up behind me with a frown on her face, which was hard to do considering the amount of Botox that woman had been through.

"Brooke, that is no way to talk to guests." She said sweetly turning her attention to Felix, who was standing there with his arrogant smile that was obviously affecting my Mother.

"Maybe he would like some fresh lemonade in this heat. I think Ada mentioned something…." She said absentmindedly, waltzing into the kitchen as if she owned it. Well, technically she did, but that was beside the point.

I plastered an overly fake smile on my face. "Why of course Felix would you like any refreshments?" I said over doing the sarcasm just a little. I heard a loud cough from the kitchen, but Felix seemed unfazed.

"Oh that would be lovely _B_, thank you." Either I was right and he seemed unfazed or he was just playing along. He knew I hated it when he called me B.

We both strolled into the kitchen to find my mother making strange squealing sounds and looking around the kitchen for clues as to where the lemonade might be. This was obviously for show because my mother has never done anything domestic since we moved into this house. That was usually the department of Ada our cook and general housekeeper. She had been with our family ever since I was young, and she was practically a second mother to me. There were even situations where I would go to her before my own Mother.

My Mother carried on clattering. She probably didn't even know where the glasses were. Whenever people came round she liked to give the impression that she was the perfect housewife. You know the kind that stays home and bakes cookies, when in reality she spent most her time in the spa or country club and her way of making dinner was instructing Ada on what to make.

"Try the fridge." I suggested. She walked over to the fridge, muttering about how she knew and she was just looking for something else.

After she handed out our glasses and dragged everyone out to the garden, no doubt hoping Paul would report back to his parents about our new ridiculously expensive deck table.

"It was so lovely for you to drop in Felix" Mother told him. Lovely. Yeah right.

"It was so lovely to see you again, Mrs Davis." He said whilst staring at her. He was still looking at her, and didn't make an attempt to hide it when she looked up. She consciously smoothed down her hair.

"Do I have something…?" she asked him, trying to figure out whether she had a wardrobe malfunction.

"Oh I'm so sorry for staring, but I just can't believe you are Brookes' mother, you look more like her sister!" my mother blushed and started giggling again. You have got to be kidding! How much more ridiculous can you get. I don't know how much more of this I could take.

"Actually , I did have a reason for coming over. My life has changed so much over the last few weeks, and it is all because of _B_."

I choked on my drink. "eh…." I said my mouth hanging open . That was probably the last thing I expected him to say.

He continued, turning to face me. "I would be honoured if you would go with me to the masquerade ball, will you?"

And there it was. The ulterior motive. That complete prat! He planned all of this! He knew I couldn't say no in front of my Mother. He glared at me, daring me to object.

Mother gushed. "Aw, that's so sweet, and ever so kind, Brooke would love to go with you."

"Peachy. This is just so damn peachy." I muttered, neither of them taking notice, as I blended into the background as they started up a new conversation making plans for the weekend.

I got up out my chair and starting walking back into the house, unable to stand sitting through their conversation anymore, and hearing my mother say as I left, "Did you see our new deck table? It's a new Swedish designer you know?"

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	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5- Daddy's home.

When I was little, I used to wait for the small beep on the intercom to go off, signalling my Dad just driven through the gates. I would then watch out of my bedroom window and time how long it would take for him to drive up the large circular driveway, deposit the car and walk up to the front door. That way I could run downstairs and jump into his arms with perfect timing. I did this every day until Dad started working late and spending more time with his second baby. Davis Corporation.

Therefore, according to the intercom that went off about two minutes ago, I knew out of habit that Dad and Lucas would walk through the door in about twenty seconds.

I heard the spray of the gravel as the car stopped in front of the house, and a door gently close. No matter how mad Dad was, he still would not risk hurting his third baby. His Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren.

I could hear Ada and Michel's footsteps as they each headed towards the front door from different sides of the house, which left me wondering if they had ever timed my Dad too. With perfect timing Ada opened the door to reveal Dad walking up the six steps that led to the house with Lucas walking behind him. As Dad walked through the doors, he threw the keys of his car to Michel to take the car around to the garage, just as he did every day.

"Brooke." My father gave me a nod in acknowledgement as he walked past me and into his downstairs office. Lucas gave me a weak smile as he followed my Dad and I followed both of them eager to know what happened.

I entered his office and closed the door behind me, neither one of them acknowledged my presence. The second I closed the barrier between "the help" and us, Dad let go. I didn't doubt for a second that they could hear him through the door.

"Just when exactly is this going to end Lucas?" be bellowed. I didn't know whether this was supposed to be a rhetorical question and by the silence coming from Luke I guessed neither did he. Dad stared at Luke as if awaiting an answer. Just as Lucas opened his mouth to answer, he was interrupted.

" I'll tell you when this is going to end! It was supposed to end last week! I gave you your warning and yet again, you chose to ignore it! if it weren't for who I am , you would have been charged with something by now! Lucas, you're eighteen now, this will go on your permanent record! Lucas, you need to grow up, that's why I intend to stick to my word , and you will not be playing any basketball for two weeks, especially tomorrow night."

Lucas looked up at my Dad when he confirmed what be both hoped he wouldn't. Lucas was being strangely unvocal and unopinionated. Usually, he would argue with Dad and justify how his actions were necessary. He would definitely not accept a punishment like that without making his feelings known.

Maybe he would listen to me? " Dad, Jake hit Luke first! He was just protecting himself!"

"I don't care Brooke, I'm sick of this, nobody in my family will be known for this sort of behaviour!" So that's what he was so worried about, upholding our family name.

I was not ready to give up though. "Please Dad, just give him another chance—"

" I'm all out of chances Brooke. Lucas will not play basketball for two weeks and that's final, now I don't want to hear another word about it from either of you." With that last word he left us in his office and walked out of the room.

Lucas was still silent. "What's with you ? Why didn't you say anything?" I said slightly annoyed that I didn't get any help trying to back him up. He looked up at me for the first time since I came into the room and he answered in a soft voice , considering my abrupt tone.

" B, just leave it please, he's not going to change his mind." This was not like Lucas. Something else was bothering him.

" But we could do something ! You could still play—" I said trying to cheer him up if that's why he was acting weird.

"Oh, I'm playing, I've been waiting for this moment for a long time, don't you worry about that ," he said with a stronger voice, and with that , just like Dad , he walked out of the room, leaving me alone and confused.

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	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – Game night

Lucas POV

So far so good. The plan was working. It was simple really. All I had to do was act depressed for a day and talk about how upset I was about how I couldn't play in the big game. Then , when the time came for Brooke to leave, I'd tag along, making a big show of going to support my team. What my Aunt and Uncle , not that he was around much to notice, did not know was, that my bag was already pre-packed and waiting in the back of my car, and my team was at the school gym awaiting their captain, and at the end of the night, I'd change back , then head home then go straight to the masquerade ball/after party the girls had planned. They would never know. This game was important you see. I'd been waiting for a chance like this for years. I'd dreamt about the moment where I could prove my point to everyone once and for all.

We had about five minutes until NC Prep brought their players out from the changing rooms. We'd already been introduced since we were the school hosting the game.

Chase and Skills waved me over. They were passing the ball between them, warming up. As I approached, they automatically included me in their throwing sequence.

"Feeling nervous dude?" Skills asked.

"Nah," I lied. This is everything I had been working towards. It may seem like I was being a bit over the top but its long passed the point where it's just simple high school rivalry for me, and basketball was just a small part of it. Chase and Skills were probably the two of my team mates I was closest to. They were my best mates and the only two who knew the full story. Chase stopped throwing the ball for a second and had a serious look on his face.

"You're not going to do anything stupid though, right?" He knew me too well.

"Like I said, I'm going to settle this in the gym…..and out."

"And there it is!" Skills added, laughing. I held up my hands, as to show them I was serious.

"I'm just going to play some basketball." I said calmly , still trying to convince them of my motives.

Skills didn't look convinced and added with a smirk, " If that's what we're calling it these days…"

Chase started the ball up again and said, "ok dude, you don't need us to tell you we got your back, but bear in mind , you're already in deep with your Uncle, and plus the schools aren't stupid, there's security outside and Larko's in the gym. There's no way your Uncle wouldn't find out. And even if he doesn't, I don't think you can afford to get into any more trouble with Larko." He had thought this all through. I looked over at the bleachers to see Larko sitting next to Principal Turner.

"To be honest boys, my Uncle, Larko , and the consequences of this are the last thing on my mind." I said telling them the truth. It was going to be action first, think later.

" Just save it for later though if you can , preferably to a time where there are no big figures of authority …..or my Mom in the audience" Skills said. I smiled at Skills not wanting to disappoint his Mommy. I gave them both a nod in thanks. I knew they were right. It was probably better to do this somewhere else. Even if something started here, Larko and the teachers would put a stop to it before it even began, and then I might not get another chance at it.

"Introducing the NC Prep Cobras!" the speakers boomed out. We stopped passing the ball and went to our side of the court. Meanwhile the crowd was cheering like crazy and NC Prep ran through the double doors, tearing through their school banner.

Ok, there goes Jake and Julian. No sign of golden boy yet. 'Keep calm Luke,' I told myself, 'save it for later'

Most of the team was out now and I still hadn't seen him. Even though I knew he was back, I still had to see him with my own eyes to believe it. Like a trophy, they left him until last. In my opinion he was last and least. He hadn't changed much in three years. Just grown a lot taller and I didn't want to admit it but he had come back with more muscles than he had left with. I wasn't too upset though, as I had my own set to be proud of. Seeing him right in front of me transported me back, and I felt like the wounds were still fresh. I had the sudden urge to hit him , but carried on my pep talk to myself to save it for later.

They started taking their places on the court. I could feel Jake seeking me out with his eyes, trying to see my reaction at Nathan's entrance. I purposely looked right back at him with confidence to show him that it didn't faze me.

Nathan walked over to his place , which happened to be right near me. The coaches were still talking over last minute plans and setting the scoreboard. Nathan looked up and instantly recognised me. I saw a moment of hesitation in his eyes, which was quickly overcome.

"Hey, long time no see huh?" he said with a smile? I was slightly taken aback. It wasn't an evil smile, it was a friendly one. Oh he had to be kidding, he wanted to act like nothing happened. I just looked at him. He looked surprised at my lack of a response.

"Come on Luke, it was a long time ago, we've all grown up and changed since then. Let's start anew," he said smiling.

Of all the things I was expecting, that was far from it. Who was this guy? He sounded like one of those cheesily happy salesmen, who have said this speech a million times before. With his track record, he probably had. I was temporarily speechless.

"You're joking right?" I asked. Did he seriously look hurt? I was not going to be the bad guy here! Just then a group of NCP cheerleaders walked past us taking their spots on the sidelines. I was so sidetracked with the whole Nathan conversation I didn't notice Rachel split from the group. She walked up to Nathan and kissed him .

"Good luck baby ," she said , then looked over to me as an afterthought. "Oh hey Luke," she said casually. That was it. They probably planned the whole sick encounter, from him wanting to be friends to her coming over. I can't believe I thought for a second that he had changed.

"Luke, it's not—," Nathan started , but I didn't want to hear it. I wasn't going to be sucked into his lies again. In that moment I forgot my whole pep talk and my plan to hold off any form of a fight. Screw Larko and the consequences. I pulled back my arm , ready to throw a punch, but I was stopped when I felt…raindrops? It took me a few seconds to remember we were in the indoor gym. I looked up, my plan of attack distracted, to see the sprinklers going off. I then heard the fire alarm , and the voice of Principal Turner, through the loud speaker, directing everyone out of the gym. Most of the audience was already on the courts making their way outside frantically. In the crowd, I lost sight of him.

**Don't forget to review! Please! I gave you two chapters in one day! Just two reviews, and I'll give you a third!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: So sorry about chapter 3! I probably confused you all with conflicted names and school! I posted the wrong chapter without realising! If you were confused, go back and have a quick read again. But there is the next one so enjoy:**

Chapter 7- Ten minutes ago

BPOV- Ten minutes ago.

"Miss Davis." I turned in the hallway to the sound of my name. I saw Larko Lorenzo walk into the school building.

"Good evening officer," I said, trying to act as normal as possible.

" I see despite the ruckus yesterday, your fathers punishment doesn't involve basketball for Lucas?"

I knew Larko was loyal to Dad but I didn't think he would go as far to question his parenting, so my best bet was probably to convince Larko that Dad knew about this.

"Yes, well Dad thought Lucas could play today since it was an important game."

"So you don't mind if I call your father to verify that?" He asked. Oh crap. This could end very badly. I didn't have much experience with being in trouble and I could hear my heart beating faster and faster. If I gave in and told the truth we would both be in trouble and Lucas wouldn't be able to play. But if I lied and Larko called Dad it would end the same way. There was a small chance Larko would just take my work for it, since I had a clean reputation and according to the town I was Daddy's angel , which for once could come in handy. Maybe I should just take the risk?

"Nope, go ahead," I said sweetly, flashing a can't-melt-butter smile. Larko looked at me for a second. I could almost hear his brain ticking over whether to believe me or not.

"Very well. I'll take your word for it." Larko said, still examining me after his answer. I think I felt my heart literally stop.

Keeping up the façade, I said , "Ok sir, enjoy the game."

"Oh I will Miss Davis, I will. No second chances tonight!" he said as he walked away from me and into the gym. I could see him take a seat next to Principal Turner on the bleachers. No second chances tonight? For who?

I took a deep breath, glad that the whole ordeal was over, and made my way into the gym. It was a full house, and the crowd was very lively. Nobody wanted to miss the Tree Hill/NC Prep game. We were the two best teams in the whole of Carolina, let alone THE best in Tree Hill, and this was the one game that nobody could bet on the outcome for.

Our side was out, warming up. I could see Luke throwing the ball around with Chase and Skills. The cheerleaders were on the side, stretching. I went to join them.

"Hey B, where've you been?" Peyton said as I joined the group. As head cheerleader, she was leading the stretch. I stood in the front line so I could carry on our conversation.

"Oh I got caught up with Larko." I said tilting my head in the direction of the bleachers to point him out.

"What a loser! Coming to a high school game," Andrea, one of the other cheerleaders , who stood on my left said.

Alex, stepped forward to join our line and joined in on the conversation too, "It's to stop any trouble. We all know what our two schools are like."

"And are we expecting any trouble?" I asked. Even though this was a big match and we had the whole school rivalry thing going on , wasn't 'trouble' and 'violence' a bit over the top?

"How could there not be, actually I'm betting on it. It would make the night a little more interesting. Ooh and we have to win the cheer off this time! NCP, always have this crowd pleaser that they pull out, just as we finish our set, if we don't win , I would just die!" Peyton said while she gestured to us all to turn to our sides to stretch out our hamstring. She was being a bit over dramatic.

" I can't believe you just said that , why would you want to encourage a fight?" I said to her, "and just because you lost a cheer-off you would die Peyt," I finished rolling my eyes.

"Well duh , I wouldn't die, but It would be, like social suicide!" Peyton said completely oblivious to the feeling I was trying to pass on through my eye rolling.

"It's just cheerleading Peyt," Peyton stopped doing the warm up and looked mad.

"It's not just cheerleading Brooke! It's the whole point!" I didn't exactly want to have the argument that we had had many times before about how there is more to life than cheerleading and high school again, so I took the opportunity to step out for a bit.

"I'm going to get my water bottle," I said to avoid what was coming next. The thing was, I loved Peyton, but at times she was pretty shallow.

After searching through my bag , I realised that in my stressed state to leave the house without my parents realising our plan , I had put my bottle in Luke's bag. I looked across to the bench near where they were warming up and located his bag, and walked over to his bag without being noticed by them.

"I'm going to settle this in the gym ….and out!" I heard Lucas say. And out? What was he planning to do? I wanted to listen to the rest but didn't want to look like I was eaves dropping. I shifted closer to them just as the commentator started to do their sound check right next to me. I could only hear snippets but I didn't want to move again in case they noticed me now that I was closer.

"I'm just going to play some basketball."

"If that's what we're calling it these days."

"To be honest boys, my Uncle, Larko, and the consequences are the last thing on my mind."

What was going on? The music to introduce NCP came on, blocking out their conversation further. I had to think fast. I left the gym in a hurry. I was pacing in the hallway, trying to figure out what to do. The whole thing was stupid, it wasn't worth fighting our rival high school for no other reason than to fight! Not to mention that Dad would freak! Lucas wasn't even supposed to be playing! We had both lied to them!

I didn't get why Lucas thought fighting for a few minutes would be worth the aftermath. Think Brooke, think. I looked back into the gym to see everyone taking their places. Peyton saw me on the other side of the doors and gestured to me to hurry up. I held up one finger and mouthed 'one minute.'

Larko was also sitting right there! Anything they did would just get broken up. I thought back to what Larko had said, 'No second chances tonight'

I would deal with Lucas later, but for now…..My eyes stopped as I saw my answer. I looked around first to make sure nobody could see me.

Then I pulled the fire alarm.

**A/N: I tried to be clever, and make it back track to make the last chapter make sense. Hopefully it worked! Did you like the way I did that, or do you think the overlapping idea was a bad idea? Review!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 – Setting up

(Brooke POV)

"Ok, a little higher on the right," I instructed Skills, who was standing on a ladder, threading white fairy lights through the archway at the entrance of 'The Garage', the hot new night club we had chosen to host the party.

"Perfect," I called out to him as he adjusted the arrangement. Completing the task, I picked up the box of white roses at my feet and began slipping them in between the fairy lights and the archway, my thoughts still occupied on the fiasco at the gym. It didn't help that it was all anyone could talk about, since a lot of people had been waiting for that game and it just been cancelled until further notice. The victory party had been transformed into just a party , and since the game had been abandoned, we had had a few extra hours to set up before the party started. I was too pre-occupied thinking and hoping that nobody had seen my act of pulling the fire alarm. I knew for a fact the surveillance camera's hadn't been installed in the newly built building containing the new gym and changing rooms. Last year some kids hoping to pull a prank pulled the alarm during assembly and had been suspended for a week, suspensions didn't look good on college applications, and as far as my parents knew I had just applied to what they considered suitable schools and they weren't the type of schools to accept anyone who had a suspension on their record.

"There you are!" Peyton startled me as she shouted up the stairs at me while she stood at the bottom. She was dressed in deep purple juicy couture tracksuit , which she kept in her car and had changed into after getting soaked when the sprinklers had gone off. She already had her hair and make-up done for tonight. All of her hair had been clipped back, with a single curl escaping either side of her face, and she had obviously spent a long time perfecting her make-up , strangely neither of which looked out of place with her outfit that was in her car usually for the purpose of the gym.

"I have been looking for you everywhere! I need you to explain the whole wrist band situation to the people at the door."

"Sure," I said as I passed the box of roses onto one of the junior members of the committee who had been assisting me.

"Thanks! Oh and then go and get dressed, Let everyone else finish up, people should start arriving soon!" She began to walk away but then stopped as an afterthought.

"B?" She said quietly.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Sorry about earlier. I get kinda crazy when I've been fed too much cheerleading in one day " she said as she smiled.

I smiled back in forgiveness, "I know, it's ok."

She looked relieved as she walked away. This was the way it was with us. We would have little disagreements but we would always be ok a couple of hours later.

I made my way over to the people assigned to working at the door. They had already arrived dressed up in the outfits for tonight. A couple of them greeted me as I approached them, and I smiled back.

"Ok so here's how it works. The boys get the blue wristbands; the girls get the purple ones. Make sure you don't let on about the numbers on the back, because then they'll all get picky with which wristband they get."

"What are the numbers for?" A girl I vaguely recognised as being in my history class last year asked.

"Each girl has an individual number on the back that matches one of the boys' wristbands. At midnight, the DJ will announce to everyone to find their partner, and then they dance the last dance with them."

The group began to talk about the idea and how cool it was. I could gladly say that I could take the credit for that. I thought we should do something different and had come up with the idea.

I looked at the time on my phone and seeing that the party officially started in fifteen minutes decided Peyton was right and I should probably start getting ready. On my way to the room behind the stage which was normally used for the featuring artists but tonight was our dressing room, I was stopped by Jared, who worked for the school radio station and was working as our DJ as tonight. He also usually handled the music side of things whenever we had house parties or get-together's

"Brooke I have a slight problem. The disc I was supposed to use for the final dance isn't reading! And there isn't really time to re-burn it."

"Ok, firstly don't panic," I said to calm him down. I pulled my iPod out of my pocket and began scrolling through the playlist until I came to the song that I was looking for. "Here, play this." I handed him my iPod.

"You're a life saver!" He said in thanks as he took it and walked back to his booth.

Nathan POV – A couple of hours before.

"I feel bad for you dude," Jake said to me as we hung out in my house with the guys playing various gaming technology. Me and Jake were playing on the play station, while Tim and Julian were playing on the Xbox and Adam were on the race car driving stimulator. We were all facing the various flat screens in my game room.

"For what?" I asked.

"You didn't get to fight Tree Hill High."

"Lucas?" I asked, I was glad I didn't have to fight him, "I wasn't looking for a fight Jake."

"What?" Jake asked shocked. He paused the game and looked at me, "I thought I saw reluctance when Lucas was about to punch you, but I hoped I was imagining it!"

"You've gone soft man," Julian said. I hadn't gone soft. I had grown up. Why would I want to aimlessly cause friction with Lucas? A part of me knew what had happened was my fault and even though I have changed I still felt bad.

"You're not who you used to be. When you walked into a room everyone used to be wary of you, man." Tim said.

"Yeah I'm not proud of being an arrogant jerk guys." I said truthfully.

"Well the way I saw it, you were popular, everyone respected you, and I don't see the downside to that. The Nathan Scott we knew fought for his friends, and who he was." Fought for my friends. I hadn't done much of that before I had left.

"You know maybe we were wrong," Adam said, "You used to be a different person." He switched off the game he was playing and put on his jacket, getting ready to leave. This was ridiculous.

"I'm still the same person guys." I said, "I just have done some things I wasn't too proud of."

"I can't believe you're still bothered by that! Get over that! Just because of one little thing, you don't need to change your life," Jake said sinking into a beanbag chair.

Maybe he was right. After what had happened I had felt the need to change, and moving had helped with recreating me. A part of me though was still how I used to be even though I tried hard to repress that side.

"Like I said, I'm still the same."

"Well I'll believe that when I see it." Julian said. I wasn't an idiot, I knew they were using reverse psychology on me and it was working. I didn't like being challenged. Like they said I was usually the alpha amongst these guys and being doubted felt strange. I felt like I needed to prove myself to them.

"Let's get out of here," Adam said, changing the subject. He was never one for conflict with one's own side.

"Well now that you mention it I have a great idea." Jake said. We all looked at him waiting for him to finish his 'great idea'

"We need to find some costumes."

"Halloween isn't for a couple of months." Tim said.

"I know!" Jake said throwing a pillow at his head, "We're going to masquerade party boys." He finished with a smirk.

**A/N: Don't forget to review!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 - Masquerade

(Nathan POV)

"I feel like an idiot!" Tim whined for the hundredth Tede tonight.

"Suck it up man, we're all dressed up," Julian told him.

"Yes. But I'm the only one dressed as a pilgrim."I held back the need to laugh.

"Well we can't help it if everything else at the fancy dress store was taken!" Jake said, laughing as he forced Tim out of the car.

After Ben's idea to crash TH High's party, we had headed over to the fancy dress store, only to grab the last few outfits. Everyone at Tree Hill high had apparently already been to the store. Fortunately for me, I didn't get stuck with a pilgrim costume like Tim. We tried to convince him it wasn't so bad considering we combined it with a mask and fit tonight's dress code must have. My outfit fit tonight's theme perfectly. According to the shop keeper, the only reason that it was left was due to its high price tag, and since that wasn't a problem for me, I ended up with the Prince Charming costume, fully complete with a navy blue mask that covered half my face.

Once we had finally convinced Tim that everyone inside would be dressed up and nobody would notice him, we walked into "The Garage", a nightclub, which I assumed was new since I remember the building being an ice skating rink. Nobody gave us a second glance as we stood in the line waiting to go in, probably since everyone was decked out in masks and nobody could recognise us.

"Here you go," The guy at the door said, handing us each a dark blue wristband, "Keep them on throughout the night. Enjoy your evening."

I put my wristband on and walked through a pair of glass double doors, and on the other side was an archway filled with flowers and lights. The archway was at the top of a long glass staircase, and from here I had a good view of the whole venue. It was pretty cool, and it reminded me of a club I used to go to back in New York. The club was made up of different levels, connected by random staircases; right in the centre was the main dance floor. It was currently filled with students, none of which I recognised. No sign of Lucas and the Riverdale lot yet.

"What now?" Tim asked

"We enjoy the party , until the fireworks start," Ben answered.

X x x x

Brooke POV

I zipped up the dress I was wearing, and stepped into my white heels, stumbling slightly in my rush.

I could already hear the makings of a party. The music has started and I could hear a crowd growing, before long someone would come looking for me needing help with something.

I looked at myself in the mirror, one last time. I was wearing a white strapless dress, with lots of layers and sequins on the bodice. I put on my plain white mask , which completed my outfit, and set out to join all my classmates.

As I stepped out of the room, I heard a whistle behind me. "Well don't you look hot?"

I turned around to see Felix leaning against the glass doors that led to the party.

I stepped to open the door to go in , trying to avoid him the best I could.

"Really? You can't avoid your date all night!" he said. I cannot believe he actually thought I was going to play along to being his date.

"You aren't my date Felix!" I said, I putting my hands on my waist in an attempt to look fierce.

"Oh , I beg to differ doll," he said , putting his arm around me, " If you remember , your mother was there when you agreed, and I don't really want to tell your parents you went back on your promise."

For the second time tonight, I could not believe this guy. He would go as far as 'telling on me' to my parents that I want co-operating.

"You can't keep using that against me!...and don't call me doll!" I said getting frustrated and walking away across the landing toward the entrance, but I could hear his footsteps behind me.

"You're right. I can't. Brooke , you know as well as I do that we are betrothed—"

"It's not the freaking middle ages Felix" I said stopping, so that he walked into me, and then pushed him off me with a very unladylike snort, "We aren't 'betrothed' to do anything!"

"Well whatever you want to call it, our parents are looking to us to be the future of our companies, and to bring our businesses together, and you know however much you put up a fight, we will be going to Yale together, and you never know what could happen next, personally I see marriage on the table, why fight the love baby?"

As much as I hated to admit it, he was right about everything apart from the marriage part. It was what our parents wanted. But if I could help it, it wouldn't even get as far as Yale.

"Ahh, don't you two look just darling!" I knew that voice.

"Mrs Davis! How lovely to see you again!" Felix said turning on his charm.

"Mother, what are you doing here?" I said, shocked to be seeing her.

"Well I'm chaperoning dear," she said calmly.

"Can I speak to you?" I said walking out of Felix's recently adapted embrace, without an answer, pulling her to the side, leaving Felix standing there.

"There are no chaperones tonight."I stated, wondering what an earth she could be doing here, since it wasn't as if she had ever taken an extra interest into my extracurricular activities in the past.

"Ok. I confess," She said, "I came along to make sure you and Felix found each other."

"Mother!" I exclaimed, not hiding my irritation

"Don't 'Mother' me, Brooke, he is a lovely boy! You are just acting like a child! Step up to your responsibilities, because I don't want to tell your father you're the reason why Scott Enterprises will get picked over us to join Felix's fathers business, because trust me Brooke I will!"

I am amazed that she stooped so low, to come here just to make sure I kept to my word of going to the dance with Felix, and then she tells me our company needs this! For a second I wondered if I was actually being childish, just because I didn't want to 'take one for the team'.

My mother took my silence as acceptance. "Good, I'm glad you see things my way," she said, guiding me back to Felix.

"Sorry Felix, to keep you waiting," she nudged me toward him, who was more than happy to replace him arm around me, and move closer. I didn't push him off but I didn't stop myself from pulling a face, which my Mother saw but chose to ignore.

"Come on _doll_."

"Ok, have fun kids," She said as she left through the exit.

We walked through the double doors, and I tried to step out from under his arm, but he took my hand. I didn't let go right away, as much as I didn't want to admit it but I needed to hold onto something whilst trying to maneuverer these stairs in these shoes, but he took my grasp as enthusiasm and smirked. We reached the bottom of the long staircase and I could see Peyton making her way towards us, with her date.

"Awww, you two look so sweet!" Peyton said, looking between us both. What was it with everyone?

"Peyton, you look delicious as usual" Felix said with a casual nod. Peyton visible melted at his words, despite her date standing right beside her.

"Thanks Fee, you're so sweet," Fee? Was she seriously kidding me?

Peyton's date introduced himself, clearly unsettled by his dates liking to Felix. While they introduced themselves, Peyton mouthed to me, 'You're so lucky' As far as I was concerned, she could have him because I wasn't feeling lucky at all.

"Come on Brooke, let's dance! We'll catch up with you guys later," Felix said , pulling me toward the dance floor. Unfortunately for me it was a slow song, so I had no choice but to move closer to him. It felt uncomfortable to be in his arms and he was holding me too tightly. He leaned toward me, bending his head down. Was he seriously going to try to kiss me? To avoid anything, I stepped out of line and 'accidently' stepped on his foot. He pulled his head up sharply.

"Ouch!"

"Oh, sorry Felix," I said.

This was going to be a long night.

**Ahh you thought they were going to meet didn't you? I promise they will in the next one! What do you think of Felix? Good guy or bad guy? Do we like him?**

**Review!**

**-R**


	10. Chapter 10

**Just one comment, pretty please!**

Chapter 10

(BPOV)

"Ok everyone; it's time for the midnight surprise!"

The music faded out and everyone on the dance floor stopped to face Jared **(A/N: remember the DJ guy from chapter 8)**

"Here's how it goes, turn over your wristbands and find the guy or girl with the matching number, and get together with them for the last dance"

I could hear murmurs of excitement as people began to look for their partners. And felt a sense of pride knowing it was me who came up with idea.

"Well, I guess it's time for us to go our separate ways…" I said, without remorse.

"I guess so. I had fun, you know…except for all the times you stood on my foot"

"What can I say? I did warn you, I'm a bad dancer, "I said smiling, thinking of all the times I caused him an injury, to stop him attempting to come closer to me.

I spun around, and walked into the crowd before he could say anything else. I glanced over the huge crowd thinking about how I didn't completely think this through , and how long it would take for people to find their pair in this crowd, when I hear someone in front of me say ,"One-two-four"

**XXX**

(NPOV)

"To be honest guys, we've been here for two hours and I feel pretty lame. All we've done is enjoy Tree Hill High's school dance"

"Relax Adam, we're observing. Like I said, the fireworks will come," Jake said.

"Yeah, but I feel stupid joining in on this little party game…."

Even though we were here, I still didn't want to get into any trouble with THS, despite the conversation I had with the guys before the dance. To try and prolong the moment when our presence would be noticed, I tried to back Jake up.

"Well if we don't play, then our partners won't have a partner and it will be obvious something is up." The guys looked at me with blank faces so I finished with, "and we get paired with a hot girl—personally, I don't see anything wrong with that." The guys started to nod and smile. "Now, if you'll excuse me while I'll try to find number…" I turned my wristband over, "One-two-four."

"Did you say one-two four?" a voice said behind me.

I turned to where the voice had come from behind me, and was met with a view that took my breath away. In front of me stood a girl with long wavy brown hair, she was wearing a white dress that was simple compared to the way some of the other girls in the room were dressed, but was by far the most beautiful.

"Err….."

"Well did you?" she asked.

"Yeah I did….Shall we?" I said, giving her my arm. She smiled and took it, leading me to the dance floor, to join many other couples who had already found their partners. As we waited for the rest to come, we were stuck with an awkward silence.

"So , I don't recognise you….." she said

"Well, I am wearing a mask. Isn't that the whole point of tonight?" I said smiled at me and laughed.

"Well I guess you're right, I was just curious…Hey! Do you know who I am?" she asked sounding like an excited kid on Christmas morning. She fingered the small mask covering her eyes.

"Nope I don't. Sorry." Somewhere in the background the music started and I reached for her hand and put one hand lightly on her waist and we began to sway to the music.

"Don't be. Like you said, that's the point of tonight."

"Why don't we keep it that way for now, you know? Enjoy the whole anonymous thing." I told her trying to avoid her asking me things about myself, before it became clear I didn't go to this school.

She nodded in agreement.

The music stopped mid chorus, and everyone stopped dancing and looked toward the DJ stand.

XXX

(BPOV)

"Sorry guys, technical glitch" Jared announced into the mike, as he fiddled with the controls, "Here we go ..." he said as a different song played.

I heard a few bars of a guitar pass before realisation hit. Jared had just chosen another track on my iPod. I froze.

"Hmmnn…. I've never heard this song." The mystery guy said. He took one look at my face and with the fact I stopped dancing. "Are you ok?" he asked looking genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine" I told him, getting a grip.

"You can tell me you know…trust me." Normally I wouldn't go around talking to people about this but he didn't know who I was. Something in his voice when he told me to trust him, and it hypnotized me into doing so.

"Well, you see ," I started as I began dancing again as a voice began to sing to the acoustic track, "The DJ borrowed my iPod earlier when he needed backup music, and he wasn't supposed to play this song."

"Why not?" he said, "It's a good song, I mean I've never heard it before but I like it already."

"I recorded it to listen back for mistakes .Nobody was supposed to hear it." I said trying to make him understand.

"I don't get –"

"It's my song. I write music. And I was just singing the lyrics myself to get an idea of how well it all fit together." I said holding my breath. This was the first time I let anyone apart from Timmy hear my music.

He looked shocked. But a good kind of shocked.

"Are you serious? That's great! You're great!" he said

"Really? Thanks. It's just; I've never let anybody hear me before"

"Well," he began while he twirled me round. I wasn't expecting that and giggled as he leaned me back then pulled me back up, dipping me. "As the first member of your audience, I can say you have nothing to be scared about."

"That's very sweet but…"

"I wasn't trying to be sweet, I was being honest." Hearing it from a third party did make me feel good. I smiled in thanks.

X x xx x

Nathan POV

The song finished and Bad romance by Lady GaGa began to play. Couples on the floor began to split up. I took a chance, considering I either spent the evening with her, or spent it hanging around Jake and the guys waiting for trouble to call.

"Do you want to get some air?" I asked her pointing toward the door.

"No." she said. I tried to hide my disappointment, then wondered why I even felt disappointed that I got rejected by a girl I didn't even know.

"No, I mean I do but not there, I have a better idea." She said taking hold of my hand and leading me toward a blocked off staircase. She moved the barrier and let us through closing it behind us, and took me to the top of the stairs and opened a door marked 'Fire exit B'. Taking a look through the door I realised we were on the roof. But it had been turned into a sort of garden filled with flowers and plants.

"Wow," I said looking at the view. From up here I could see the entire town. Seeing it all in one view really put into perspective how small the town really was.

"Yeah sorry about coming up here, just trying to avoid someone." I turned around to see her sitting on a stone bench in the centre.

"Oh really, who?" I asked her as I sat down beside her.

"My date." She answered. Her date. It never occurred to me she had a date.

"Don't look so disappointed! Doesn't the fact that I'm up here avoiding him tell you anything?" she said laughing.

"Then why are you?" I asked her, honestly interested.

"Long story." I gestured to her to continue, "Just family expectations, you know?"

"Actually I do." I said truthfully, not pushing her to explain any further.

She slipped off her shoes and crossed her legs and swivelled round to face me. She seemed totally at home , getting comfortable on the bench. I was having more fun up here, than I probably would downstairs with my friends.

"How about you hang here for a sec and I'll go get us some drinks?"

"Sure." She nodded.

I made my way back to the dance and up to the bar **(A:N since it's a school dance it's all non alcoholic but the place had a bar since its usually a night club, so they're just serving the drinks there)** . I signalled to the man behind the bar to get his attention.

XXX

(BPOV)

"Brooke?" I heard someone call as they opened the door to the roof.

"Luke! There you are! I've been looking you all night! I need to talk to you! "

"Yeah, sorry, I've been busy with the guys just dealing with something, what're you doing up here?"

"Just taking a breather, but that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Taking a breather?" he asked joking around.

" No, Lucas!" I said getting frustrated now, "this isn't a joke! I wanted to talk to you about what happened at the basketball game, how could you be so stupid to want to start a fight when –"

"What are you talking about there was no fight?" he said confused.

"Well of course there wasn't, thanks to me, but I heard you talking to Sk—"

"You were listening" he said, sounding mad. "This is why I didn't talk to you about stuff like this because you don't understand."

"Well duh, because there's nothing to understand—"

"What do you mean 'thanks to you'?"

"Huh?" I asked him confused.

"Brooke, you said, 'nothing happened thanks to you'" he crossed his arms and looked and me.

"Well….I heard you guys talking and I freaked out, so pulled the fire alarm." I said quietly.

"YOU DID WHAT?" he practically shouted. "It was because of you I didn't get to finish what –"

"I was just looking out for you!"

"Yeah well, I don't need you to look out for me, Brooke; I'm a big boy," he said meanly, and he walked away from me and went back to the party

XXX

(NPOV)

As I made my way back to the roof, I saw Lucas come down the steps, and I saw the girl I was with look down the steps at him and watch him walk away. You have got to be kidding me. That was the date she was trying to avoid! Was I naturally just drawn to Lucas's girls?

"Did you see him?" Jake said, sneaking up beside me.

"Yeah."

"Then let's go." Jake started walking toward Lucas before I could stop him.

"Jake!" I said trying to catch up with him

Jake stood in front of Lucas, blocking his way.

"Sorry" Lucas said, absentmindedly.

Jakr lifted his mask. I saw realisation hit on Lucas's face as he realised who we were.

"Seriously?" he said. I saw a whole bunch of guys from the basketball team join us, as well as a couple of girls.

"We don't want any troub—"I started, but Jake gave me a look.

"Yeah Nathan, you don't want any trouble, I think I get it now. You're just scared, it's why you left in the first place. Since you went to all that trouble to come over, I can't let you leave without a souvenir."

Lucas took a step toward me and punched me straight in the face. Pain rushed to my jaw. I didn't want any trouble before, but that action reminded me of who I used to be. And the old me wouldn't sit down and take all of his crap. I took one look at my friends who were looking at me with pity, and I knew they were wondering if the old me they remembered was gone for good.

"Is that your best shot? Oh and Luke, you need to get over yourself" I said and I hit him back. From the fall he took , I'm guessing he wasn't expecting that. I saw Jake smirk from the corner of my eye.

"How about you take my souvenir to you and use as a reminder that Nathan Scott is back." I meant that literally but I was also referring to a part of the old me that had just returned with that first punch.

A crowd had formed and I saw a teacher trying to control the situation. I heard her say 'Get Larko Lorenzo down here'" through her cell phone.

"Let's go!" Jake said, grabbing my arm.

"What happened?" I saw the girl I was with run down the stairs and run up to Lucas. She looked round to see who Lucas was facing. Her eyes locked with mine for a split second.

"I don't understand?" she looked at me confused. I saw her eyes glance at Jake who was mask-less and standing beside me.

"Nathan , let's go" Julian pressed , trying to get the last two , me and Jake out.

I was still concentrating on the girl. I could practically hear her putting two and two together in her head. And for some reason I felt bad, like I was deceiving her, when in fact I didn't owe her anything. I didn't even know her.

Lucas got up and had anger in his eyes. " Chase—get Brooke out of here." He said and began to make his way back to me. I saw Chase, one of my old friends from back in the day pull the girl I had been with away by her arm, even though she was protesting.

Before Lucas could attempt to hit me again, Julian pulled me out the way

"What the hell's wrong with you man, let's go . "

I came back to reality and ran through the crowd following Julian, when I reached the top of the long glass staircase I looked back, at the girl , who was now standing at the side looking at me, confusion written all over her face. I made eye contact with her and on instinct reached up into the archway above me and pulled off a white rose. I kissed the rose and placed it on the top of the staircase, and ran through the doors.

**A/N: Just in case you're confused with who is who, let me break it down for you:**

**NATHAN'S FRIENDS: Julian, Jake, Tim, Adam**

**TIMMY/BROOKE'S FRIENDS: Chase, Skills, Felix (sort of)**

**The girls will come into later, I promise .**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: This one is for Libby and Youloveit: After posting the last chapter I was seriously thinking to stop the story , but after getting your reviews, it really motivated me to write again!**

**And as for everyone else, I promise it does get a lot better, I wrote the beginning when I was younger, but it does get better soon!**

**Enjoy:**

**Chapter 11 Forgiveness and plans**

"I cannot believe them! Who the hell do they think they are? It's one thing insulting us out on the street but it's another to come over to OUR school dance!" Lucas said in a raised voice as he paced the side of the pool in the back of our house.

"Not to mention embarrassing! I was just _not_ ready! And _not_ expecting that punch!" He added, trying to justify why he had ended up on the floor after their little encounter.

Straight after the incident at the dance, Larko had ended the evening early. We'd come back to our house to discuss what had happened and what to do. We were all still dressed for the dance, minus the masks and we sitting around our outdoor pool in the moonlight.

I hadn't spoken to Lucas since he had yelled at me up on the roof. But it wasn't like he noticed my protest, because he hadn't spoken or acknowledged me either, unless you count when he told Chase to 'get me out of here.' I hate being treated like a little kid. Ever since Lucas's parents had died and he had moved in with us, I had always treated him like my brother and we always looked out for one another, and it hurt to hear him tell me he didn't need me to look out for him.

"We need to do something even worse," Lucas said, his words trailing off and he thought of things we could do with the rest the group. I had stopped listening to him rant a while ago, and I was sick of everyone acting like NC Prep had committed a crime and it was up to us to find the fitting punishment. I stroked the petals of the rose in my lap. After NCP had left, I had gone back to the top of the stairs to retrieve the rose the mystery guy had left. Well he wasn't exactly a mystery guy anymore, he went to NCP. And not only that, he was Nathan Scott, the guy everyone had been getting all hyped up about. I didn't think he knew who I was before he danced with me, since we had matching bracelets, so there was no way he could have rigged that. But why did he bother to leave me the rose in the middle of the whole fight situation?

"That's all amateur stuff! We need to do something to remind them who's on top..." Lucas said in response to an idea Peyton had come up with.

"Anyone else? Ideas?" Lucas looked around everyone, including me.

"Screw this, I'm going to bed." I said, standing up off the deck chair I had been lounging on and walking toward the doors to get back into the house. Everyone looked at me shocked, I wasn't usually as outspoken.

"What do you mean you're going to bed?" Lucas said, gesturing toward all of our friends sitting around, conveying the message, 'we have people over and we're in the middle of something, how can you go at a time like this'

"Look, we all know, you're going to come up with an idea whether I'm here or not-"

"We need your ideas too B"

"No you don't, you're a 'big boy'" I said sincerely, quoting his words, "I'm sure you can do it by yourself."

I turned around and walked into the main house toward my bedroom. I'm sure I heard someone say 'What's up with her' as I left.

BPOV

After I'd left I'd changed into my pyjamas and plugged in my iPod to drown out the conversation I had just walked away from, as my bedroom over looked the pool and my balcony doors were open because of the heat.

I was absentmindedly flipping though a magazine while my thoughts were circling through everything that had happened tonight, from my argument with Lucas to Nathan Scott at the dance, to my exit just now.

Even though I had my headphones in, I still heard the knock at my bedroom door. I pulled my headphones out and looked behind me .

"Hey," Lucas said softly. I turned around again and continued pretending to read my magazine. Lucas took that as an invitation to come in because he walked into my room slowly, looking around as if he'd never been in my bedroom before.

"So , umm…I just came up here to um see if you were ok."

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" I said curtly.

"B, I'm sorry for what happened earlier at the dance." I carried on looking at my magazine, ignoring his apology. Lucas walked over to my bed and picked up the magazine.

"Hey!" I shouted.

"You weren't reading it anyway. Look I came up here to apologize, so can you at least hear me out?"

"Fine." I said and I got up and started taking all my mini pillows off my bed , prepping for bed, and also just to give me something to do. Lucas sat down backwards on the chair at my desk.

"I'm sorry I yelled, and said the things I did."

"That's what I don't get! Why did you! You've been acting crazy lately!"

"I know! Its just…there's something about him that gets to me—"

"Him ? as in Nathan?"

"Yeah…I just can't deal with him right now. And now he's back I just can't look at him without getting mad."

"Why? What happened before he left?"

Lucas hesitated for a second. "Brooke , it's a long story that happened a long time ago . So are we cool?"

I wanted to say I didn't forgive him but I couldn't, Lucas was my best friend and the only family member that actually felt like family to me, and I never could stay mad at him for long.

"Yeah, we're cool." I saw Lucas's eyes light up, " but only because its movie night" I said referring to one of mine and Lucas's many traditions.

"Thank you!" he said, jumping onto my bed, "I do get to choose the movie right?" he asked.

"Fine," I said in mock reluctance. I reached for the remote by my bed and clicked the button which commanded my flat screen TV to come down from the ceiling.

"Awesome, I'll be back , just let me get out of this costume, and I'll go grab us some popcorn." Lucas got off my bed and walked toward the door. After he left, he poked his head around the door a second later.

"B?" He said

I looked up from the long list of movies we had on the screen. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry I said I don't need you. I'll always need you, you're my little sis."

xxxxxxxx

(RPOV)

"That was frickin' awesome," Jake said with adrenaline in his voice. Right after we had left the dance we came to the park, which was empty of any little kids by now.

"Nice to see you're back man!" Julian said, as he handed me another beer.

"Nice to be back," I said honestly. Acting like my old self had brought back that feeling of being in charge and I would be lying if I said I didn't like it.

I know I said, I was going to start a fresh, and try to resolve things with Lucas, but I wasn't going to take his hostility sitting down.

"Did you see his face after you'd hit him? It was a total Kodak moment!"Adam said.

Even though I was enjoying everybody 'respecting' me again, I couldn't stop thinking about the girl I had met at the dance. Part of the reason my mind was still lingering on her, was because I was obsessing over why I was obsessing over her. I had never cared so much about someone I barely knew, and that intrigued me.

"Hey, you guys, you know after I hit Lucas he told someone to get some girl out the way?" I asked.

"Vaguely..."

"So….ummm…was that his girlfriend?" I said trying to sound casual. I don't know why I cared, I hardly knew her.

Adam let out a snort, "No, dude, that was his cousin!"

"His cousin?"

"Yeah, Brooke."

From when me and Lucas had been friends, I remember him living with his cousin, but the girl I remember didn't look anything like my mystery girl. The cousin I remember was short and had glasses and was kind of fat.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah! But you probably don't recognize her; she's really 'grownup', since you last saw her. "She's hot now." Adam said nonchalantly.

"Why'd you ask?" Jake asked

"I dunno, she was my partner for that dance thing."

"WHAT!" Jake yelled. From the way he reacted you would have thought I had told him I had won the lottery. Although, even if I had, it wouldn't make much of a difference to my trust fund.

"THAT IS BRILLIANT!" he finished.

I looked at him, not completely following.

"Ok, hear me out, I think I have the perfect way to get to Lucas. Since you were her partner through that game, she can't suspect us!"

"Of what?" Tim asked, not the only one that wasn't following.

Jake ignored Tim and replied back to me, "You're going to pretend to go out with her to get on Lucas's nerves, and then totally embarrass her or something in front of everyone."

"What makes you think she would want to go out with me?" I asked seriously. Now that she knew who I was, she may not be as friendly as she was before.

"Of course she will! You will be your total charming self! Nearly all the girls in our school want to go out with you, so I don't think we have a problem there."

I wouldn't mind seeing her again, but I wasn't too sure about the embarrassing her part.

Jake took one look at my face.

"Unless of course, you don't think you can handle it?" he said. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Julian and Adam exchange glances. Although I knew Jake was using reverse psychology on me, I still didn't want to back down.

"Of course I can handle it!" I said with a smirk, "Tim give me another beer."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Review! Tell me what you think about the ending? Good or bad? I know this isn't in the original Nathan and Brooke but what's the point of a rewrite if it doesn't have a few twists * evil laugh***

**Also I know Nathan isn't as nice in parts of this but it's all part of who he used to be before he left, and will be a big part of the story…**

**Also what do you think of Brooke and Lucas's relationship? **

**Love you x**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: This chapters for Danielle, for her awesome review that motivated me even more!**

**This chapter is more of a filler but it gives you an insight to how their family works. **

**Enjoy:**

Chapter 12- The letter

"Mornin' sweetie."

I looked up from my stack of pancakes to see Ada walk into the kitchen with a handful of post in her hands.

"Good morning Ada," I said

"How're the pancakes?" she asked.

"Brilliant as always." I said truthfully. Ada walked over to the fridge and took out the carton of milk and poured out a glass and handed it out to me.

"Thanks."

"Good morning ladies," Lucas said as he walked into the kitchen in his pyjamas.

"You know breakfast time finished a while ago..." Ada said trailing off, making a big show of looking at her watch.

"Sorry, late night." Lucas said giving Ada a smile, the one ever since he was young Ada could never resist. She had practically raised us as since she had no children of her own and she cared for us as we were.

"I know, I figured so when I got the one AM popcorn call."

I looked disapprovingly at Lucas, since he woke Ada up and he was fully capable of putting popcorn in the microwave himself.

"Oh don't worry," Ada said laughing, " I heard pottering around in my kitchen and saw Lucas awake and since I wanted my kitchen intact in the morning I offered to make it myself, but anyway since I have some batter left….."

"Thank you Ada!" Lucas said. She ruffled his hair as she walked past to get to the stove.

"So, how'd your party go?" She asked.

"Well…" I started but didn't quite know how to finish.

"NCP had the nerve to crash our party, can you believe that! I can't believe Nathan Scott actually –"

"Nathan. I read his family moved back in the newspaper. I remember when you were both young, he used to spend so much time here it would have been easier if he just moved in!" Ada said chuckling.

"If you're done reminiscing I think I just lost my appetite." Lucas said while he jumped up from sitting on top of the kitchen island table and walked out the kitchen.

Ada looked shocked and looked at me, as if asking me what just happened.

"Don't mind him…. He's just a little sensitive when it comes to Nathan ."

Ada turned around again and continued cooking the pancakes, " such a shame too, they were such good friends."

" I don't remember much."

"Well you were young and pretty absorbed in your own life, you had your own friends, it wasn't like it is now how you and Lucas have the same circle of friends."

What she said was true. Me and Lucas were in different schools then so I didn't really have much reason to pay much attention to him and his friends.

Maybe Ada knew something. " Ada, do you know why they stopped talking?"

" I don't believe I do , it was so many years ago." She saw my disappointed expression, "why don't you just ask Lucas?"

I didn't really want to go into how he wouldn't tell me so I just nodded. Ada plated up the pancakes she had just made and added took out the chocolate sauce from the cupboard and added it on the top. The then got out the whipped cream and strawberries and put them on too, finishing with chocolate sprinkles on top. Just the way Lucas liked it.

"Now since you're finished, be a dear and take this up to Lucas, I know he still wants it !"

I put my plate by the sink and took the tray from Ada.

"Oh and sweetie, there was mail for you but your Dad took it into his office with him."

"Mail?" I asked surprised. I rarely got any letters. What with everyone using email and social networking sites nowadays, the only post I got was the various magazines I was subscribed to, but I doubt my Dad had any interest in what colour was in this season.

"Yes , it was pretty official looking too. But your Father saw it when I took his mail in ."

"Ok, thanks Ada, " I said. I was curious to what the letter could be. I saw Lucas sitting by the pool—dressed now, through the patio doors. I walked outside and put the tray on the table beside him.

"Ohh thanks, that looks good." He said rubbing his hands together as he sat up and picked up his tray . I just glared at him.

"What?" he asked.

"You know what ! Just because you have stuff going on in your life, don't be an ass to Ada!"

"Oh that. She knows I didn't mean it!"

"That's not the point! "

" Ok fine I'll apologise when I go back in. Happy?"

I nodded and smiled and headed back toward the main house. I walked along the silent corridors until I came to my father's office. On a rare weekend like today when he was at home , he spent the day working in his office. I knocked and opened the door gently and saw my father on the phone. He saw me come in and waved me over to one of the chairs. I went in and sat down looking at his desk trying to see if this mysterious letter was there. I had no idea what it was and why he had it, but I was intrigued as he didn't usually make a habit of taking interest in my post. As far as I could think, I hadn't done anything bad lately. Except for pulling the fire alarm! Maybe Larko had pieced it all together, how I had been talking to him, defending the fact that nothing unorthodox would happen during the night, and then within a few minutes the alarm when off.

"Ok, I'll have Cindy fax over the originals now. Thanks, Bye." He put the phone down and looked at me. He didn't say anything, he just handed me an envelope from his draw. I took the envelope and looked at it. It didn't have anything on the outside apart from my name and address. I opened it and took the letter out. The first thing I saw when I folded down the first bit of paper was the familiar black and gold crest of 'St Martin's School of Performing Arts'. I unfolded the rest of the letter and froze as soon as I saw the first line. 'Dear Miss Davis, I am pleased to say we would be delighted to offer you a place in our school ….'

I remember when my parents first organised for me to graduate early with Lucas's class and I was looking through college brochures, I came across St Martin's school of performing arts, in London, and I knew it was perfect for me. They had the exact composition classes that I wanted. But in reality I knew I would never go there, but a part of me wanted to know whether I was good enough to get into the exclusive school with my talent, so I had applied, not expecting to receive a reply. I had sent them an audition tape which happened to be the same backing track that had played aloud at the dance.

I couldn't help but smile, knowing they had liked my piece.

"It wasn't part of the plan to apply to other schools that weren't on our three year plan."

"I know. I just wanted to see if I would get in."

"Well I'm glad that's understood. Your letter from Yale came this morning, and you were accepted," he said smiling.

Without knowing whether I would be accepted to St Martin's or not, it was never a possibility for me to go there in my mind, but now that it was in front of me, all I wanted was to go. I wasn't surprised I was accepted into Yale, what with my father's influence.

"And if I wanted to go to the music school?" I asked cautiously.

"Music school? Why would you want to go there? It's not exactly a diploma the joint head of Davis Enterprises would need."

" I just …" I didn't really know how to explain to my father that I didn't want to go to Yale and live my life with Felix.

"Brooke, I don't think you understand what's at stake here. Scott Corporation is growing and I need to combine with Felix's fathers business in order to take them over!" He said talking about the business deal that was planned to dictate my life.

"You go to Yale. Move in with Felix. Eventually get married. Then when we retire, Felix can run both businesses." He finished.

"Felix can run both businesses? What about me?" I asked. Since I was a big part of his plan, I was expecting to run the business with Felix.

"Well you and Felix will be married. "

"Yes, but what about running the business? Why is Felix doing it?"

"What you want to run the business? Brooke, running a business isn't as easy as you think. And you'd be happier being at home. Just look at your mother and see how happy she is." My Mother. He had to be kidding. She wasn't exactly the picture of happy. She used to when I was little, but then my Dad started the company and started working more and my parents started spending less time together. My Dad would frequently compensate for the lack of time, by handing over one of his credit cards and telling her to 'go get something nice,' and the sad thing was she was actually content doing that by now. I definitely did not want to turn into my mother.

"Are you saying you don't think I'm capable of it?" I asked, getting angrier by the minute.

"Well I know you Brooke…." Him, know me! He had to be kidding; we hadn't spent any real time together in years!

"Well if that's all I'll be doing why can't I go to the music school then?"

"Brooke. You're going to Yale. And that's final." He said. Then on cue, his phone rang.

"Yes?" he said answering it.

He looked up at me, as if he just noticed I was still sitting there, and waved me out. I took a deep breath and mentally counted to ten. Then I picked up my letter from St Martin's and walked out his office. I picked up my car keys and called out to Ada in the kitchen .

"I'll be back soon."

"ok , hunny." She called back.

I needed to get some air.

**REVIEW!**

**A/N: Ok , now I promise this isn't going to turn into a story about her achieving her dream to get into music school etc. It's really just a minor detail in the story that will come clear later on. Let me know what you think!, x**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Thank you so much for all your subscriptions, it means the world! Please send me a review to let me know what you think! **

**A lot of you expressed hate for Brooke's Dad and that Brooke should stand up for herself and tell her Dad what she wants, but that's the weakness of Brooke, she's so used to doing things for everyone else. That's the whole point, and she will learn to stand up for herself as events go on, I promise!**

**This one's three times the size of a normal chapter so enjoy!**

Chapter 13-We meet again

RPOV

"I can't believe it's still so frickin' hot around here!" Jake said , getting up to open the window, "It's been what? Two weeks now? No rain or anything, just getting hotter!"

"You know, by opening the window, the air con is just gonna turn off," I said twisting around. Jake was leaning out of the window, and turned his head to face me.

"I know but I need breeze! Not that there is any out here." Jake closed the window with a sigh, "Hold on a sec…isn't that?...Nate—come here and look at this."

I got up to join him and looked out the window to try and see what he wanted me to look at. Even I had to admit the view from my bedroom at my parents' house by the beach was spectacular. From here, if I looked directly down I could see our pool with our family crest painting onto the bottom, next to the Jacuzzi and outdoor gym. Looking down now I could see my little sister Isabel having a private swimming lesson with Emmanuel, out family's fitness instructor. I could hear him saying 'like a dolphin, swim like a dolphin dahling,' in his accent, all while trying to mimic how a dolphin was supposed to swim, standing by the pool.

If I looked straight ahead, I could see the beach that my house backed onto, along with the crystal clear ocean.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?" I asked.

"There! On the beach!" Jake was pointing to something. He was talking extremely fast as if he were rushing to get it out.

"Jake. The beach is huge." Because of the immense heat, most people had smartly opted to stay indoors, where it was much cooler than out, so the beach was practically empty apart from two young boys playing with a Frisbee and a girl sitting on the sand.

"That's Brooke Davis!" Jake let out. I could only see that back of the girl so I couldn't tell either way.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive! I saw her sit down!" Jake was practically squealing in excitement.

"Calm the hell down! So what's the big deal even if it is her?"

"It's perfect! You can start the plan now! Go down there and ask her out."

In a way Jake was right. It was better to approach her when she was alone and I didn't know when I would get that chance again. I had thought about Jake's plans ever since he suggested it and I came to the conclusion that it was no big deal. All I had to do was go out with a girl and then dump her. What was so different from that to my normal dating habits? And if it would get me back in as 'alpha-male' with the guys, without them doubting me, then what was the big deal?

"Well are you going?" Jake asked, interrupting my thoughts.

(Brooke POV)

I had no idea how I ended up on the beach. All I remember was leaving my house in frustration after the conversation with my father, and aimlessly driving around the block until I eventually took the exit for the beach.

It was too hot to be out on the beach I realised soon after I arrived, as I could feel the suns heat hitting me from all angles and the sand underneath me burning up, but I needed some air and I wasn't ready to go home yet, I didn't want to go to another public place and risk running into anybody I knew and having to pretend I was ok and to socialise, so since the beach was deserted because of the heat, staying here was probably my best bet.

I had multiple missed calls and texts from Lucas asking me where I was, but I didn't feel like picking the phone up right now. My Dad probably hadn't even realised I had gone.

The light on the phone started flashing, signalling I had voicemail. I dialled the number to listen to it, and recognised the number as my Dad's. So he had realised I was gone. For some reason knowing that put a smile on my face.

I followed the automated lady's instructions and hit one to hear the message.

"Brooke—I needed you to sign your Yale acceptance forms so I could send them off, however Ada informed me you left in a hurry. Now you need to stop your tantrum over nothing, stop making a scene for the people who work for us , and come home so I can get the letter sent out."

The line went dead.

A tantrum over nothing! I threw my phone down on the sand in irritation and anger. He probably thought I would get over all of this after I had finished with my childish 'tantrum'. And I can't believe he was worried about making a scene for the people that work for us! He was forgetting that Ada had been in our family for years, we could hardly say she knew nothing about our family problems!

"What did Apple ever do to you?" I jumped in surprise as I heard a voice behind me. I looked up and behind me but I couldn't see who I was looking at because the sun was in my face. I lifted my hand to cover my eyes, but the person bent down and sat beside me picking up my iPhone at the same time. Now that I could see clearly I could tell the person before me was Nathan Scott.

"Thanks," I mumbled taking my phone back.

"So I know you were probably waiting for me to ask you out at the dance but the little incident at the end pretty much screwed up the rest of our conversation," he said smirking at the end. Who the hell did this guy this he was? "So what do you say we make that dream date come true some time?"

He had to be kidding me! First of all I wasn't in a great mood as it was, and secondly, this was not the guy I remembered dancing with. This guy was arrogant, and way too full of himself. He was probably used to girls falling at his feet , which I didn't doubt because I had to admit he was totally hot, but he seriously needed to get over himself.

"Thanks but I'm busy that night," I said with an obvious fake smile.

"I didn't say when." He said raising his eyebrows at me.

"Well then I'm busy every night." I said shrugging.

"Well this is because I go to NCP right? And I know your friends aren't really big fans of me."

"It has nothing to do with that!" I said letting out a snort , in my attempts not to laugh.

I saw a quick wave of confusion pass his face.

"Then, your reason would be?"

"I don't date guys like you." I said honestly.

"So you don't date handsome, sexy, rich guys-"

"No! I don't date egotistical, arrogant guys who need to get a reality check!"

I saw a glimpse of hurt in his eyes and watched him turn around and look toward a house near the beach then look back at me again.

"Ok, I'm sorry, can we start over?" he asked surprising me. I didn't think he would say that. I didn't say anything.

"Please?...Hi , I'm Nathan Scott" he held out his hand. I didn't raise my hand. I had seen a different side to him at the dance so I knew it existed in there somewhere, but I wasn't exactly going to go out with him so I didn't need to 'start over'

If I was to go out with him, I know Lucas would totally freak out along with all my friends and my parents wouldn't exactly be thrilled at the prospect of me dating the son of their business rival.

I could see a wounded look on his face and felt slightly bad.

"Ok. Fine. Let's start over but I'm not going out with you."

"Ok," he smiled, "Why won't you go out with me?"

"You know why!" I said.

"Ok , ok , fine…..so what's wrong?" he asked. I gave him a puzzled look, " well something must be wrong unless you always make angry noises and throw your phone around."

I didn't really want to talk about it and plus I didn't really know whether I should trust him or not.

"It's just family expectations you know." I said, running my fingers through the hot sand and sieving the grains through. I realised I already used that line back at the dance when I was talking about Felix, but this time Nathan didn't let me drop the topic.

"Are you going to elaborate?" he asked.

"No." I said.

He nodded, "Well family expectations. I know all about that." There was a few seconds of silence before he spoke again, " so do you always do what people want you to?"

"Excuse me?" I asked, that was a completely random thing to say considering he hardly knew me.

"Well from what I've seen , you're sitting here by yourself on a beach upset, because of 'family expectations' which I'm guessing you are planning to go through with because otherwise you wouldn't be upset, and then there's the fact that you won't go out with me because you know people won't 'approve'"

I was left speechless. I had no idea how to respond. He was right. But I didn't want to explain to him how I didn't really have a choice with the family stuff and my reasons for not dating him were just as valid.

"Do you ever actually do anything for yourself? You know, ever take a risk?" I took a second to think about it and I know I hadn't but I didn't really want to admit defeat.

"You know nothing about me! Of course I do things for myself."

"Really? Then come with me."

"Where?" I asked curiously.

"Some place that will help you feel better about whatever you're upset about and I promise you don't have to talk about it."

I still didn't think it was a good idea to socialise with him, in fact I should have left the second he came over.

"No thanks. "

Just then my phone bleeped. I looked at the screen and saw I had a text from my Dad: ' Last post goes out in an hour.'

That just got me all irritated again, and I let out an angry noise. Why should I do what he wanted?

"Offer still stands, last chance," Nathan said, standing up and brushing the sand off his shorts.

The way I saw it I had two options. I could either go home and be the good daughter I always was and sign the papers quickly in time for the post to go out today, or I could blow it off and go with Nathan to wherever he wanted to show me.

"Take a risk. Trust me," Nathan said. He held his hand out to me, and my eyes locked with his.

Right now the option that would piss my Dad off more appealed the best. I switched off my phone, and took Nathan's hand and let him pull me up.

Nathan POV

I climbed up the next sandy hill and held my hand out behind me to help Brooke up. From up here you could see the track. I started walking down toward it.

"Where are we?" Brooke asked from behind me.

"I used to come down here a lot when I was younger to blow off some steam, and since I've been back its come in pretty useful."

I had never really brought anybody down here before and it was my place, where I could think, without anybody bothering me, but for some reason I felt like I could bring her here.

From the start I realised convincing her to go out with me wasn't going to be like any other girl. She didn't fall for the usual lines. I knew she would be reluctant because of who we were , but I didn't want her to think I was some sort of jerk.

I led Brooke through the gates and across the track.

"Hey! Nathan! Nice to see you back!" Vinny, the guy who owned the place, said coming out from one cabins in the middle of the course.

"Hey Vinny, this is my friend Brooke, we're gonna head out back , is that cool?"

"Sure."

I walked over to one of the other warehouses in the back. I took the padlock out the door and held it open for Brooke.

"I've never noticed this place before. " she said looking around.

"Yeah well it's pretty hidden behind the sand dunes. When I was thirteen I had a huge fight with my parents and left the house, somehow I ended up here, ever since then I've come here a lot, it help me relax, and think things over I guess."

The warehouse was filled with motorbike and car pieces. I walked over to one of the benches and lifted the white sheet, revealing a silver motorcycle.

"Vinny taught me all about engines and stuff and I help him out sometimes, to fix stuff up. Right now I'm working on this bike."

"What's wrong with it?" Brooke asked sitting on the stool nearby, she looked genuinely interested.

"Nothing, I just like experimenting, I think I can make it go faster."

"Really? What do you get out of it?" She asked.

"Well um , I guess I'm interested in how stuff works, and figuring out how to better it."

"Will you show me how?" she asked, surprising me.

(JPOV)

The next half hour was filled with me watching Nathan work on the bike in silence, every so often him stopping to explain something to me. I didn't fully understand what he was talking about but it didn't matter, because while I saw him working on the bike, I saw a different person to earlier on the beach.

The look on his face as accomplished a certain section was amazing. You could tell he really loved what he was doing. Even though it was silent, strangely, it wasn't awkward, it was more of a comfortable silence, and I wasn't bored, I was truly content watching him work.

"So have you ever thought about majoring in something like this in college?" I asked. I didn't know exactly what courses there were was I was pretty sure there had to be something to do with engines, and physics, and stuff.

He let out a laugh, "Yeah right!"

"Why not? It's something you obviously enjoy!" I said.

"Because…family expectations." He finished with.

"Are you going to explain?" I asked curious now.

"No." he said smirking. It wasn't the same arrogant smirk as before, it was a more playful smile. I picked up his reference to when I wouldn't elaborate. I could now see how annoying that was and I couldn't help but smile back.

"Oh! Was that a smile?" he said grinning.

"No! " I said, trying to make a straight face but failing miserably.

"So, how about we go for a ride." He said putting the material back on top of the bike.

"On a bike?" I asked, even though I knew it was the only logical explanation. There was no way I was getting on one of the pieces of junk around.

Nathan nodded.

"No way!" I said.

"What's the worst that could happen?"

"We could die!" I exclaimed.

"You shouldn't stop living your life because you're afraid of things," he said, "Come on." He walked out of the warehouse and turned out the light. I had no choice but to follow him. He went round the back of the warehouse and lifted another sheet, only this time it was black and it revealed a beautiful shiny black dirt bike. I never thought I was the type to see beauty in a bike, but it felt like I was being drawn to the bike. The dirt bike obviously suited it's rider well, as it seemed to be a perfect match for Nathan. He sat on it and put on the helmet and handed me a helmet off the bike next to it.

"Don't look so scared, I built it myself! I'll never let you get hurt, trust me. "He looked me straight in the eye and like before on the beach, I believed him. I put the helmet on and sat behind him. I didn't know what exactly to do with my hands. Was I supposed to hold him? Wouldn't that be awkward?

"I can only keep my promise if you hold on Dee." He took hold of my hands and placed them around his waist. It didn't feel awkward at all, especially since I could feel his defined muscles through his t-shirt.

"Did you just call me Dee?" I asked confused.

"Yeah, like Davis. I figured everyone else probably stuck to variations of Brooke. I like Dee. "

Nobody had ever called me that before.

"I like too," I said. Why hadn't I thought of that?

"Good, because even if you didn't it wouldn't stop me." He said casually.

He started the engine and I held onto him tighter, and squeezed my eyes shut. Before I knew it could feel breeze in my face.

"I can't see you, but I'm guessing your eyes are closed. Open them. There's nothing like it." I heard him shout over the wind.

I slowly opened my eyes, and looked around, and noticed our surroundings.

"WE'RE NOT ON THE TRACK!" I yelled, letting out a little scream, squeezing him even more.

We were riding freely through the beach, and I could feel every little bump we went over.

"Just enjoy it!"

I tried to relax and took a deep breath. I loosened my grip on him and felt the rush of the wind on my face and on the hair that wasn't under the helmet. It felt great. I had never done anything like this in my entire life.

Eventually he stopped.

"Are you ok?" he asked turning around.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said in a daze.

"I understand if you want to walk back." he said.

"Actually …Can I drive?" I asked. I think I surprised myself more than him with my question.

Brooke POV

After twenty minutes, Nathan drove me back to where I had parked my car. I climbed off the bike and took my helmet off and handed it to him.

"Thank you for today." I said smiling. It had really helped. Since I went with him I hadn't thought about the Yale problem since, "You were right, it did help."

"I'm glad I was of some assistance." He said

"Well anyway…I should head out." I looked at my watch. It was past six and I had left home at one, and my phone had been turned off practically the whole time.

"So I'll see you around…" he asked.

Even though I had had a good time, I still didn't think it was it good idea, to go out with 'Nathan Scott.'

"I'm not sure."

"Are you going to clarify that?" he asked.

"No." I said smiling, not stopping our theme of unanswered questions for the day. I unlocked my car and opened the door, and sat down in the driver's seat.

Nathan laughed and smiled.

"I'll see you around Dee." He winked at me and switched the engine of the bike on, and drove back toward the beach.

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Now they know each more, the story will definitely pick up and be more fast paced from here. Chapters will also get longer, and more character's lives homed in on.**

**Do you guys like any characters so far that you want their story tied in too?**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Merry Christmas guys! Hope you had a good weekend! I'll post tey and post the new one before new year's if I get at least 3 reviews!**

Chapter 14

(BPOV)

As I approached the house the iron gates automatically opened. I felt a lot calmer driving through them after my afternoon out, compared to when I had first left.

As I drove up the gravel pathway and parked in front of the house, I saw Lucas park up behind me in my rear-view mirror.

"Hey." I said, getting out of the car.

"It's so not cool rejecting my phone calls B," Lucas closed his own car door and joined me in walking toward the house.

"I didn't reject your calls, my phone battery died on me," I lied.

"Sure it did." Lucas threw his car keys through the air to David, one of our security staff who came out of the front security cabin to take our cars to the back. I handed him my keys as we walked past him.

"So spillllll," Lucas said, raising his eyebrows, and elongating the second word.

"About whatttttt?" I said, elongating my second word too.

"Oh come on B! If you won't tell me who can you tell?" We went into the house and straight through to the kitchen in the back. I sat down on one of the stools at the island breakfast bar.

"Brooke!" he whined again like a little child.

"Lucas! I would tell you if I had any idea what you were talking about!"

Lucas walked over to the fridge and took out a pitcher of some sort of fruit juice and poured us both a glass.

"When you wouldn't answer my calls, and you were gone for a long time, I went for a drive to see if I could find you , and I did , at the beach, and you weren't alone!"

I choked on the juice, spluttering everywhere, panicking for a second. Lucas had seen me with Nathan.

"You saw us?"I asked cautiously, not worried about the mess I had just made.

"Yeah, you were getting off of some guys motorbike. So who is he? Your secret boyfriend? Your parents would freak if they knew you were socialising with the 'likes of people who used a motorbike as transportation'." I let out the breath I was apparently holding in.

"He isn't my boyfriend."

"So you got on some random guys motorbike!" he said, his protective voice coming out now.

"Oh calm down, he wasn't random."

"Good. So listen, I want to hear more, but we'll have to finish later, I have a date." Lucas left the kitchen and went toward his room.

"It wasn't a motor bike, it was a dirt bike," I muttered to myself.

My Mother appeared from the garden and went over to the fridge and took out two cucumber slices.

"Don't mumble Brooke, it's not ladylike," she said on her way out.

That was a close one. I felt slightly guilty for spending the afternoon with Nathan but I hadn't exactly done anything wrong, all I did was ride around on a bike. I wondered what exactly I had gotten myself into and whether I had gotten myself into anything at all. Would I see him again? Should I see him again? Did I want to see him again? We hadn't exactly swapped cell phone numbers or anything (not that it would be very hard to find each other in the small town that this was). It wasn't that I wanted to see him in a romantic way; I just knew that when I was with him I wasn't thinking about all my other problems, I was just having fun. And thanks to myself I had no idea what would happen now, since the way I had ended the conversation it left it pretty open.

"Don't frown Brooke, sure there's Botox, but I don't know how Dr Spence would feel about a minor..." my mother said as she came in again and filled a wine glass from a bottle in the fridge and went back out.

I sighed and wondered if there was a slight chance I was adopted.

X X X X X X X

Nathan POV

"Hey honey, where have you been?" I walked into the kitchen to see my Mom taking out a lasagne from the oven.

"Just on the beach," I said.

"Yeah I can see that! You're covered in dust, no doubt riding around on those bikes! Now we're back in this town I see you found your old hobby too."

"Mom— it's no big deal, you don't need to worry !"

"Of course I do! They're not exactly safe, they could fall apart any moment, and you could hurt yourself, I don't want to go through what happened before again!"

"What happened before was my fault! I wasn't wearing a helmet and I was messing about with jumps, it was just a mistake."

"A mistake that put you in hospital!"

I looked at her worried face, and remembered back to how worried she was when I was in hospital for a week, when I was sixteen. I took in the worry lines on her face and felt bad for making her worry about me, when that could be avoided.

"Ok, I'll be more careful." I said, hoping she wouldn't make me give my word to give up the bikes.

"Promise you'll wear your helmet." She said pointing her spoon at me trying to look threatening but the sauce dripping from the spoon made the situation more comical.

"I promise." I said laughing.

"You know I don't know why you insist on riding those pieces of junk when we can just buy a perfectly good, safety checked –"

"Mom."

"Ok fine, I'll drop if for now, Well anyway dinner will be ready in fifteen so go take a shower, without trekking dust all over my floors please."

"Ok," I said smiling; I kissed her on the cheek and went through the kitchen doors to go out back. I walked into the back yard and used the outdoor metal curling staircase that led to my sister and my shared balcony, and walked through my bedroom doors.

I walked into my en suite and took off my t-shirt and adjusted the water on the shower, when it was to the temperature I wanted I took off the rest of my clothes and stepped in.

I thought back to my afternoon with Brooke. I had no idea what to make of it. After I went to her on the beach I know I started off with my usual forwardness that girls usually go for, but for some reason she didn't. A part of me wanted her approval and trust, and once I looked back to my house and saw Ben watching through the window, I knew I wasn't going to get it that way. So I took her to the track. I had never taken anyone there before but for some reason I felt like it would help her since she was obviously upset about something. The afternoon had ended on a lighter note and I think she had started to like me by the end. But I had absolutely no idea what would happen now. I don't know why but there was something about this girl that left me clueless and left me with no idea on how to handle the situation. She wasn't like many of the girls I had been with before.

I turned off the faucet and stepped out of the shower picking up my towel on the way. After getting dressed I walked out of my bedroom, still rubbing my hair with the towel and knocked on my sister's bedroom door. She was lying on her stomach on her bed playing on her iPad, which my parents had given her for her birthday last week.

She looked up in response to my knock and smiled when she saw me.

"Nate!" she got up off the bed and came and gave me a hug.

I hugged her back and said, "Easy Izzie, you just saw me this morning!"

"I know, but I missed you, I haven't seen you all day, you said when we moved back into this small town we would have more time to do stuff."

"I know, I'm sorry," I said feeling slightly guilty. Since we had moved back into town a week ago, I had barely seen her. Back in New York we used to hang out all the time. Most people would find it a pain to spend time with their siblings but I loved hanging out with my six year old sister.

"I've just had a few things to sort out, but I promise this weekend we'll go to all the ice cream places in town until we find one better than Chocolate Zoom." I said referring to our favourite ice cream shop in New York, that we would go to or get a take out from every weekend.

"Really?" her eyes lit up.

I nodded to her.

"All that ice cream ..." she said trailing off, fantasising about it. I laughed, remembering a time when I could get so excited over the thought of eating a load of ice cream.

"Let's just not mention that little detail to Mom," I said smiling, "Come on, let's go get some food." I said guiding her toward the stairs.

When we got into the kitchen I heard my Mom yell, "We're out back kids." We went through the patio doors and saw all the food set out on the deck table.

"We're eating outside?" Isabel said , slightly confused. She wasn't used to things like this, considering she was too young to remember ever living here, and all her memories are of living in our New York City penthouse, where the windows were sealed shut and the air conditioning was blasting.

"Yes, sweetie." My Dad said laughing and patted her head. My Dad poured my Mom and himself a glass of white wine, and poured Isabel a glass of apple juice in a wine glass. Isabel took it excitedly , thinking it had come out of the same bottle as theirs.

I took one of the two empty seats next to my Mom, and began helping myself to salad.

"Isn't it nice to be out here, instead of in a stuffy apartment?" My Dad said.

"I wouldn't exactly call it a stuffy apartment, more like an air conditioned state of the art penthouse," I said.

"Ok, but you can hardly compare it to being out in the open, under the clear sky, without the sound of traffic. It's great to be back."

After a few minutes of silent eating, my Dad had to ruin it.

"So, Nathan , have you given any thought to your college applications? There's more to think about now we've moved back here."

"If you mean given any thought, as in have I changed my mind? Then no I haven't," I said.

"Nathan, I really think you're making the wrong choice," he said.

"Well it's my wrong choice then." I said rudely.

"Honey, it's just because we care, and we just think taking some time out and taking a gap year isn't the best choice," my Mom said, joining in.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you have no reason to! If you take a year or so out, what will you do? What's the point in it? I just think long term; it's not the best choice."

In a way she was right. It wasn't as if I had planned what I wanted to do in my year out. In an ideal world I would have loved to have just gone travelling, just going where the wind took me, just being free. I just knew I didn't want to go straight to college. Part of me didn't want to waste my time going to a school that had just accepted me because of who I was, and who my father was. At the beginning of the year my parents had convinced me to send an application to Harvard just to keep my options open , and they had send me an acceptance letter, before I had even sent my admissions essay.

" If you think you'll be getting an easy way out because you will just work for the company you're wrong," My Dad said.

"It's not that!" I said, raising my voice.

"Ok, Nathan, Honey, don't get mad, just think about it, ok? It's just because we care about you," Mom said.

I took a deep breath and let it go. I sat in silence as I listened to my parents talk to Isabel about her new school. After a while my hunger won, as I finished sulking and took a bite of my lasagne.

"Don't eat that cold Nate," my Mom said. I stood up and took my plate back into the kitchen and put it in the microwave. When it was warm, I went back outside and heard Mom talking.

"So, I went to the country club today and I ran into Melina Evans, do you remember her? Her sister lives in New York, you know, Felicity? Well anyway she said her sister mentioned our fabulous annual summer party and asked when we were having it, which made me think, just because we're not in New York , doesn't mean we can't have the party, and we can make it a barbeque or something. And it will be a great way to re-meet all our old friends from, the neighbourhood, and you know, show we're back?"

"That's a great idea Karen, we should have it within the month so we wouldn't have been back too long," My Dad said, "It's not much notice , so we'll have to think about the guest list , and call..."

I ignored them, still sort of mad at my Dad at bringing up the College subject again. I know he wasn't trying to be mean , and they do really care, It just bugged me I didn't have control over this one decision concerning me.

Xxx

**Review! Pretty please with Nathan on top xD **

**Again, I used this chapter to show the differences in Brooke and Nathan's home lives, with Karen and Victoria. As well as show you something more into Luke and Brooke relationship. **

**Who do you think Lucas has a date with then…..? **

**Promise the other characters will come into it more now, I just needed to get Nathan and Brooke going a bit. **


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: for some reason I really loved this chapter, and really got a kick out of writing it, so tell me if you like it!**

**It's a nice longer one :]**

**Just to clear up some things, in a review someone (****Xxx RochiieeBeckiiee xxX)**** asked if Brooke was younger than everyone else etc, and I thought everyone will probably be wondering so I'll explain it here:**

**Basically Lucas, Nathan, Haley, Felix, etc are all eighteen and seniors. Brooke is seventeen and technically a school year younger, (but only a few months from everyone in age). Her parents got her doing extra classes to be able to graduate with Felix so they can go to Yale together and follow out their parents plan. So she has a few classes with them, some on her own, but she will be graduating with them. Brooke's age is also a reason she isn't too sure about what happened with Nathan and Lucas because she was still in middle school, when they were in high school, and she had different friends then etc…and a separate life. **

**-I was also asked for a flashback which you guys will get don't worry to explain some Lucas/Nathan stuff in their past. But for the next few chapters you'll just get lots of clues xD**

**-****Nerdy Fashionista****- Yes I know the characters are very OC! And I was planning to try really hard and get them as close as possible but I thought my story would work out better if they were a bit different. I hope it works out though! Haley will probably be the most in character though….**

**-I can't remember who but someone asked about the other characters, I think it was ****Beckie****: Very very soon! I promise! I just need to establish brooke and Nathan a bit but Haley will be in soon, and so will Peyton a bit more and Lucas will have his own POV as well as Rachel and Jake etc**

**Chapter 15- Need some help?**

_"Thou knowest the mask of night is on my face_; _Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek"—William Shakespeare_

_**Brooke POV**_

"So when're you meeting Liam?" I asked Peyton.

Peyton looked at the time on her phone, "In about five minutes or so, he said he's meet me by the new sushi place downstairs."

"Well I'm parked on this floor, so I'm just going to head off," I told her

"Oh, so I'll see you at school Monday?" she asked me whilst looking at her reflection in her compact, to make sure she looked good when she met up with her date. Surprisingly she was meeting the same guy who was her date at the dance, which was weird for Peyton, to see a guy again.

"Yeah, do you want me to take your bags?" Peyton smiled gratefully and handed me her armful of shopping bags to add to my own. I gave her a small wave and headed off toward my car.

After cheerleading practice, Peyton and I had headed off to the mall to add to our back to school wardrobes (even though we already did that two weeks ago.) We'd spent about an hour hanging out before she had to meet Liam for her date.

Once I found my car, I put both of our collections of shopping bags on the back seat and started driving home. I hadn't gotten very far before I heard a crunching sound and felt my car slowly come to a halt. I tried re-starting the engine, but each time the car made a funny splurting sound then went dead again.

I sighed and took out my cell phone. Just my luck that after lying to Luke about my phone going flat, it does just that. I looked around me, and there were no other cars going past on the sandy Cliffside road. I could already feel the sun burning my back. I thought about putting the top back on the car, but couldn't bear the thought of being in a hot airless car, since the air con didn't work without the engine on.

Even though my knowledge of cars was non-existent, getting out of the car and at least trying to see what the problem was pretty much the only option I had.

I walked around to the front of the car and it took me all of three seconds to realize I didn't know how to open the hood. There must be a latch somewhere, I thought, whilst feeling around the edge of the hood, but the metal of the car, heated by the sun, was burning my fingers. I let out a frustrated noise and sat on the car, forgetting it was hot, and jumping up again with a small yelp. I pushed my sunglasses onto my head and was wondering what to do now when a shiny yellow Lamborghini stopped beside me.

"Need some help?" I was about to give a grateful speech to the driver, but I looked up to see it was Nathan.

I hadn't seen him for a week, ever since the afternoon on the beach. Part of me had felt slightly disappointed he hadn't come looking for me, and I had been beginning to wonder whether the afternoon was a one off and if I would ever see him again. The other half of me was mad at myself for even caring in the first place since I wasn't even supposed to want to see him again anyway. After spending that afternoon with him, I had rationally thought about it and realized, it didn't matter if we had fun, spending time with him was the wrong thing to do . I felt like I was betraying Lucas as well as my parents and all my other friends.

I looked at him speechless, still not having composed an answer. I didn't really want to encourage his attention but if I didn't I didn't know how long I would be stuck on this sandy isolated road and roast to death.

Nathan shrugged and started driving forward.

"Wait!" I shouted behind me, knowing full well I had no idea when the next car would drive up. Nathan parked up in front of me and got out of the car.

"Relax, I wasn't driving off, I couldn't exactly stop the car on the road."

"Oh," I said, feeling stupid for thinking he would just abandon me.

"So what's the problem?" he asked.

"Ummm… my car won't work," I told him. For some reason I was nervous to see him again and I didn't quite know how to react to him, let alone string a sentence together to explain the innermost workings of the problem with my car.

"Yeah, I can see that," he said laughing, and walked toward the driver's seat of my car. He attempted to start the car, and was met with the same sound as I was. He then reached beside the steering wheel and flipped a button, and the hood popped up. So that's how to open it! I was suddenly glad he hadn't driven up sooner and seen me trying to look for the button outside the car.

He walked around the car to look inside. I stood by the side watching him fiddle with the car.

"So I haven't seen you around lately," he said.

"You didn't come to find me," I told him; then immediately regretted saying it, on the account of how pathetic I sounded.

"I didn't know you wanted me too," he said shrugging, "But at least now I know you think it's the guy's job to do stuff like that."

"What? I don't think that," I said confused.

"It's ok, I guess I just thought you were different to the other girls around here," he said calmly.

I was nothing like all the other girls in this town.

"You think you have me all figured out don't you?" I said, crossing my arms.

"Well…." He said raising his eyebrow.

"You know nothing about me!" I said getting mad now. There was nothing I hated more than people prejudging me to be like a lot of other girls I knew.

He just gave me a look, which gave me the message that he thought otherwise.

"Fine, take your best shot," I uncrossed my hands and put them on my hips.

"Well, you fit the typical stereotype of all the girls in the town for one."

"Oh really? And you got that all how?" I asked.

He gestured toward my cheerleading uniform and then pointed to the huge pile of shopping bags in the back seat.

"Oh please! You can't just get that from a few shopping bags and a school club, I happen to be a part of!"

Nathan stopped looking at the car and looked me straight in the eye, "You know you don't fool anybody with the 'my parents are asking something of me which is totally unfair and I'm not going to do it, and I'm so hard done by ' crap"

"Excuse me?" I said the only think I managed to say. I was totally speechless. First he acts like he knows me then he has the nerve to say that. And just when I was beginning to think he wasn't a bad guy.

"Oh come on! I don't know what it is they want you to do , but you will probably end up doing it, since you're probably like the perfect daughter, and I'm not judging you , in fact I don't blame you if by doing whatever they tell you to, you end up driving a shiny red Ferrari California, and those are Armani sunglasses right?"

I let out a snort, "Oh my god! You are such a hypocrite!" I said pointing to his car, which was way more expensive than mine.

"I actually paid for that myself," he said, looking hurt.

"Really? And how'd you get the money?" I said doubting someone our age could come up with that much money by ourselves.

"My trust fund," he said and I scoffed. "But this isn't about me, I'm not trying to argue your perceptions of me, seriously chill, like I said, I get how you are now, and it's cool. Try the engine."

"I tried switching on the car, and it worked, but I was still mad at him.

"And, I probably won't see you again, which is a shame, because it would have been cool, but I guess you're also too worried about what your friends think, to do what you want."

Even though what he said was true, it still bugged me. Part of me felt guilty at the thought of hanging out with him because it felt like I was fraternizing with the enemy.

"Great it works, I have places to go and people to see, but it was nice meeting you. Bye Dee." He winked and got back into his car before I could say anything else.

I could very easily pretend the whole bizarre incident hadn't happened and never see him again, but for some reason I had to show him that I was different, and to do that I had to do something he wasn't expecting me of all people to do. Why did I even care what he thought? I knew things would get pretty sticky if I carried on a friendship with him but for some reason I still wanted to, and even if I didn't I still wanted to show him he was wrong.

I had to do something he wasn't expecting me to do, and to do that I had to do something that I wasn't expecting myself to do.

I got back into my car and started driving toward my house, thinking about what I could do to prove to Nathan I didn't always stick to the rules.

The most risky thing I could think of was stepping onto his turf, but I didn't like the thought of being found at NCP with all his friends without my own. And if they see me, it would get back to Luke and everyone else and there was no way I could come up with an excuse good enough to explain why I was there.

Now that the engine was working I connected my cell phone to the car to charge it. It had barely switched itself back on, when I had an incoming call from Peyton. I put the Bluetooth device in my ear and answered the call.

"So do I need to make up an excuse yet?" I asked.

"No, actually everything's going well, he just went to the bathroom, I just called because I ran into Josie Milner, who was also at the sushi place, which is actually pretty good by the way they have these really nice salmon rolls—"

"Peyt, get to the point!"

"Oh sorry, where was I?"

"Josie?" I prompted.

"Oh right, well she told me that her cousin, who goes to NCP told her that you know that gorgeous huge, stone house on the beach?"

"Yeah," I told her. I was pretty familiar with the house. It had been there ever since I could remember but it didn't seem like anybody lived there, you would occasionally see some gardeners and other staff but no residents.

"Well, the reason it's been empty the last couple of years because it's the Scott's beach house, but now they're back and they're renovating their actual house, they've moved into there!"

"So that's where they live right now?" I asked, an idea forming in my brain.

"Yep, ooh, listen, Liam's back, I got to go!"

I took the earpiece out my ear and started forming a plan.

X x x x x x x x x x x

Brooke POV

I stood on the beach at 2am with a view of the back of his house. This was going to take guts. Guts, which I didn't have. I knew I had to do something big, and this could be it. Worst case scenario, I could get caught breaking and entering, and that wouldn't look so good on my permanent record.

It was pretty easy to get in through the back gate, leading to the beach. Security in this town was pretty lax considering everybody knew each other and crime rarely happened.

It was silent around his house and I could hear the sound of my own footstep on the brick flooring. I suddenly regretted wearing flip flops. I slipped them off and tip toed barefoot around his pool. Now I was at a loss at where to go. I could either try the house doors, but they would probably be locked, and I'm pretty sure that would be more illegal than just being in his back yard, and plus I didn't exactly want to run into his parents.

I looked up and saw a metal staircase curling around the outside of the house, leading toward a balcony. Leaning against the railing was a surfboard, which I was guessing belonged to Nathan, which would mean I had the right room. Since that was the only idea I could come up with, I decided to just go for it. I slowly climbed the staircase and walked onto the balcony. There were two glass doors side by side, both covered by blinds, so I couldn't see inside. Feeling a moment of satisfaction of knowing I'd found him easily enough I slowly put my hand on the closest black metal door handle and tried to open it without making much noise. I soon found that I wasn't getting very far because the door was either locked, or required more force. I rattled the door, as quietly as I could, trying to wedge it open, and hoping Nathan wasn't a light sleeper. Why hadn't I thought this through? I thought about how I'd sneak out of my own house and make my way over here but had no idea what I'd do once I had actually broken in.

"Trying to wake my sister?" a voice whispered startling me. I jumped and flipped round and saw Nathan leaning against the other glass door watching me, "That's her room."

"How long have you been there?" I asked, hoping he hadn't seen me and my sad attempt to open the door.

"Well I saw you trying to tip toe around the pool through the kitchen window, and I thought I'd better come up here, and stop you waking up the whole house," he said shrugging.

I was suddenly thankful he couldn't see me going red in the dark in the embarrassment that he saw my lame attempt to break into his house.

So, what exactly did you have in mind by turning up at my bedroom at this hour? Brooke, I'm not that kind of guy!" He said, with his hand on his chest joking.

"Keep dreaming, like I said back at the beach, you're not my type," I said smiling and heading down the stairs.

"So this is a total Kodak moment, you were the last person I ever thought would break into my house," he said leaning over the railing. "I can see it as top gossip in the Country club tomorrow, 'Brooke Davis, daughter of Jonathon and Victoria Davis turns to theft'"

"So I guess I don't always 'stick to the rules'" I said with my hands on my hips.

"Ok, point taken, but I still think in your life you stick to what your 'supposed' to do."

" I don't care what you think," I said.

"Then why bother to prove me wrong?"

I froze in my steps and thought about how he was right, I never did anything for myself.

"Ok, fine, me and you Saturday afternoon?" I said boldly, taking a chance, and asking him out, something I wouldn't have done normally.

"Umm, I have plans," he said.

Oh he had to be kidding. I did all this for nothing. I suddenly felt really stupid as if his plan was for me to make it obvious I like him, and putting myself out there then he could reject me.

"Fine, whatever," I said giving him a look and I walked back toward the beach, feeling utterly ridiculous.

X x x x x x x x x

After spending the first half of the day, sulking in my room over Nathan rejecting me, and then realizing that nobody in the house had any sympathy for me because they didn't know what happened, I decided I needed to get a grip.

Yeah sure, I had nice things, but that wasn't because I did exactly what was expected of me. My parents didn't grow up with money and now they had it, they liked to spend it. Other people in that position would teach their children the value of money, but mine liked to flaunt how much they had. And if to do that they had give their daughter a Ferrari, and a limitless credit card, then that's what they did.

I liked to think I lived my life for me, but part of me knew many of my actions were to please other people, but I didn't want to admit he was partially right.

I strolled through the house, looking for everybody wondering where they all were since nobody had come to see me since the morning. I wondered if they even knew I was in the house.

I walked outside and past the outdoor laundry room and saw Ada separating clothes inside.

"Hi Sweetie, where have you been all morning," she said.

"Oh you know, I had some studying to do," I lied.

"Ah, that's my girl, studying on a Saturday morning, if only that would rub off on that cousin of yours!"

"Speaking of Luke, is he around?"

"Last I saw of him he was heading to the outhouse after breakfast."

I nodded in thanks and walked out and round the pool, to the pool house. I could see two shadows inside and knocked cautiously before just barging in, not wanting to catch him with a girl again.

"Yep?" I heard him call from inside.

I opened the door and went inside, he was lounging on the floor leaning against the bed, and playing Xbox. Chase walked out from the kitchenette, holding two cokes. If there weren't any girls around, Chase being over would have been my second guess. The two of them were worse than girls, always hanging out. If you couldn't get a hold of one of them, you'd be guaranteed to get in touch by calling the other one.

"Oh, so it's safe, I just thought with the two shadows…." I trailed off jokingly.

"That only happened once!" Lucas said, pausing the game and turning his position to face me.

I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Ok two and a half times," he said giving in.

"How can there be a half time?" I said confused.

"Well we hadn't got very far before you –" he started.

"Ok, I get it!" I said stopping him.

I laughed and flopped back on the bed behind them.

"I'm bored," I whined.

"Go out by the pool, or go shopping or something, isn't that what girls do?" Lucas said, while his mind was on the game.

Normally saying that's what girls do wouldn't bother me but after Nathan, who implied a similar thing, the comment irritated me.

Lucas took my silence as rejection of the activities he proposed.

"Why don't you go get us some ice cream from Slurpy's?"

"Ok, what flavor do you guys want?" I said getting up from the bed.

Lucas paused the game again.

"I was just kidding, you don't have to," he said, he obviously was joking when he suggested it and didn't expect me to agree to go run an errand to get them ice cream.

"It's ok; I want to get out of the house."

"Well if you're sure…" Luke said cautiously, "this isn't one of those times, where later you accuse me of something like ordering you around right?"

"No, "I said laughing, getting up "I'll be back in a little bit."

"Something with chocolate please!" Chase called after me.

I picked up my handbag from the house then collected my car from the front and drove over to Slurpy's.

When I got there, the inside was pretty empty, since most people had opted to sit outside, due to the weather. So when I went in, it was pretty easy to see Nathan sitting at one of the booths, texting on his phone. So this is what he blew me off to do. One of the kids that worked there walked over and placed two sundaes on his table. One for him and one in front of the seat opposite him. That was when I realized he was with someone. I suddenly wished I had taken a bit more effort in how I looked, rather than walking out the house in jean cut offs, a black Pepsi t-shirt, and black flip flops. Of course he had a girlfriend! Why wouldn't he? I walked over and joined the queue and tried to avoid looking at him, which was easier said than done. I told myself I would look just one more time then, I would order the ice cream for the boys and leave. Unfortunately for me, just as I looked, he was looking at me and I looked straight into his eyes. I immediately looked away, but I knew he knew that I had seen him.

"Next," the guy at the cashier called. I stepped up and ordered a nutty chocolate sundae and a strawberry and vanilla cream. I paid for the ice cream and walked over to the edge of the cashier to pick up plastic spoons and I added toppings to each one, wondering if he was still looking at me. Just then I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Nathan standing behind me.

"Hi," he said.

"Hey, "I said back, wondering if his girlfriend was about to pop out.

"So this is why you were busy?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, I promised Iz that we'd hang out Saturday," he said. I couldn't believe he was being so open about it. Did he just expect me to be ok with the fact he was in a relationship? He just wanted to have his cake and eat it too.

"Iz?" I asked. Just my luck that his girlfriend would have a funky name like Iz, Izzie? Isabella?

"Yeah," he said taking a step back and pointing to a little girl that was on her way back through the restaurant from the bathroom, "My sister"

It was then that I realized that there was no girlfriend. I suddenly felt really stupid for assuming otherwise and not giving him a chance to explain.

The girl, who was really cute and had a pink backpack on her back, picked up the sundae in front of her in one hand and Nathan's in the other and walked over to us,. She handed Nathan his cup and put large spoonful of her own in her mouth.

"Not as good as chocolate zoom, but it's a close second," she said with a mouthful of ice cream. Then she noticed me and swallowed the ice cream.

"Sorry, Hi, I'm Isabel," she held out her hand to shake and I shook it back.

"Hi, Isabel, I'm Brooke,"

"You have a pretty name," she said smiling, showing me two of her missing teeth.

"Thanks, your name's pretty too," I told her.

She smiled at me and turned to her brother, "Nate, can we go now? My ice cream would have melted by the time we get there!"

"Sorry, I said I'd show her where the park is," he said.

"D'you , wanna come?" Isabel asked me innocently.

"Oh, no it's ok, I don't want to get in the way, and I have to get home anyway," I said picking up the two ice cream containers for the boys.

"You're not getting in the way, but it's ok, I totally get if you don't want to, but do think maybe we could hang out some other time?"

"Please, it would be fun!" Isabel said smiling.

I looked to the girl who looked happy at the thought of me coming, and then to Nathan, whose expression I couldn't read. I didn't mind going with them , in fact I liked little kids, we just didn't have that many in the family, I didn't want Nathan to think I said no because she was there.

"Ok, I'll come," I said smiling at her, forgetting about the two boys at home waiting on me, "in fact , how bout I show you the best places in the park to go?"

Her eyes lit up and she grabbed my hand with her spare one. I saw Nathan smile out of the side of my eye.

"Ok then, let's go," he said and led us both out the door.

**A/N: Review! First kiss coming up! The story will move along a bit more now…xD**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: This is a big moment, which I think we've all been waiting for, but I have to say very sorry for the crazy short length! I go back to school tomorrow and I was supposed to have read Jane Eyre (Which I have only read 4 chapters to!) and The bloody chamber by Angela Carter (Which I have read 10 pages of but im working on it!), plus exam prep for economics, so I'm very busy! But I wanted to give you all something.**

**Thank you so much for your reviews!**

Isabel camilla Scott- Thanks for your review... =] At first I thought it was an insult then I saw it as a compliment : " At first I thought it was stupid then I started reading it and it's awesome" lol, x

Chapter 16- Our first kiss went a little like this...

"Your sister seems great," I said, as I watched Isabel playing by herself on the climbing frame, while all the other kids around were playing on the roundabout. We were sitting on the swings in the park, with a view of the rest of the children's area so we could keep an eye on Isabel too. I put the last spoon of ice cream in my mouth and set it down next to the other ice cream I had ordered that was now in its fully melted form. Any thoughts of Timmy and Andy waiting at home for their ice cream long forgotten.

"Yeah, she's great. She's actually taken the move pretty hard. We always used to hang out weekends in New York, so I guess I wanted to keep something constant in her life and that's why I told you I was busy today," Nathan said.

"Oh! I totally get it! No need to explain. Actually I feel pretty ridiculous for acting the way I did," I said embarrassed. Thankfully the topic was forgotten when Isabel ran up to us.

"Did you see me? I went right to the top!" she said bursting from excitement.

"Good job Iz! Hey, why don't you go play with those kids, they go to your school right?" Nathan asked her. Isabel turned and looked at the group at the roundabout.

"Umm, that's ok, I'm going to go try the fireman's pole, can you come and help me Natie?"

Nathan looked at her a second, then said, "ok," and followed her over to the pole. I managed to hear a slight sigh before he left.

I watched them for a few minutes as he helped her get onto the top , then he showed her how to hold onto the pole properly, teaching her to wrap her arms and legs around securely before letting go. He played with her a few more minutes, taking her over to the slide, then came back and sat down on the swing beside me again.

"So, what was the sigh about?" I asked him curiously.

"Like I said, she's having a tough time adjusting, she pretty much grew up in the city and she doesn't remember ever living here. She found it hard to leave all her friends behind, and she seems to be finding it hard to make new ones. I actually think they may be being mean to her because of who our family is, which is funny, because as soon as people find out who my parents are, they're dying to _my_ friend" he said chuckling at the end to lighten up the topic.

"I'm sure she'll be ok," I said, "give it time, you just moved back."

"That's what my parents said too, but I just don't like seeing her unhappy."

"That's sweet," I said smiling. I was seeing him in a different light to the one I had seen him in before. Out here with his sister he wasn't the arrogant guy, that acted like he knew everything, which was confusing because I kept getting glimpses of a nice person, like at the bike track and now with his sister. At least I knew that the sweet guy was in there somewhere.

"What is?" he asked, watching me, his gaze locked onto mine.

"Your relationship with your sister. You can tell she adores you," I said genuinely.

"Yeah, we got close once we moved to New York. Mom and Dad were working a lot, building up the empire, which left me and Iz with a lot of time to bond. And then the move was so sudden, since we got back, I guess I'm all she's had for a while, she just finds it strange playing happy families."

"So how come the move was sudden? How come you came back" I said without thinking. I suddenly realized I probably sounded as if though I was prying, "Sorry! You don't have to answer that!"

"No, it's ok." He said, not bothered by my question. After a few seconds he began to speak again.

"The move to New York was never supposed to be permanent. My Mom and Dad already had a lot of money in their families and when they got married they created their own business, it was doing well, but they thought New York would be a good place to expand. Once we moved, they started spending more and more time at work, and less time with us. Eventually I started acting out and doing things I'm not too proud of" I mentally started coming up with things that he could have done but I didn't think it was the right time to ask.

"And Iz wasn't paying attention in school. I think it finally hit them that we weren't a family anymore when one day, my parents had just picked me up from the police station, and we had just gotten home, and Izzie was upset about something and she was crying. My Mom held out her arms to pick her up but Izzie ran straight past her and into the arms of the Nanny."

"Then what?" I asked, completely hooked onto the story, as if it were one of those soaps my Grandmother watched.

"Well the next morning, our parents announced we were moving back here. They both grew up here and missed it a lot and they thought it was the place where we could be a family again. The company was built up enough for them to control the business from here, and we'd moved by the end of the week. We're still not perfect but we're working on it, and we're nearly as close as we used to be."

After he finished we sat in a few minutes of silence. Him not knowing what I made of his story and me still trying to absorb how he had just told me something so personal. After a few minutes I spoke.

"You're lucky," I decided.

"Why?" he asked confused.

"Your parents care that you weren't a family anymore. Mine would start caring the day we didn't _look _like a family in public anymore." I said truthfully.

"I'm sure your parents care, Dee," he said.

"It's nice of you to say so, but I know that's not true, and I've come to accept it. We used to be close, I remember we used to live in this tiny little house by the mall, and my parents were working double shifts, but it didn't matter because we were happy. Then one day my Dad's small business grew slightly bigger and bigger, and before long we'd moved into our house. My mom quit her job, and we were happy for a while, but the money wasn't enough, and the company wasn't enough. They wanted more, and soon that was all that mattered. My parents weren't in love anymore, My Dad started working more than he was ever at home, and my Mom got caught up in society and the country club, and our social standing. Me and my cousin were practically raised by the staff, and like your sister, we started going to them before my parents, but the difference is they didn't notice, or they did and they didn't care. So it's the same with me and my cousin, we're all each other has."

The whole time I was telling him about my parents, telling him things I'd never told anybody before, I had kept my eyes on the ground, embarrassed. I don't know what it was but something about Nathan just made me want to tell him everything and invite him into my life.

"Why did you tell me all of that?" I heard him ask me.

"Why did you tell me about what happened to your family in New York?"I asked feeling embarrassed that I had just laid out my dysfunctional family next to his repaired one.

He lifted my chin, so I had nowhere to look except straight into his eyes.

"I don't know," he said in an almost whisper, moving slowly close to me.

"Me either, " I said , even softer than he had, but I was sure he was close enough that he's heard.

He moved his face even closer to mine, so our noses were almost touching, his eyes never leaving mine once. He closed his eyes and I felt his lips touch mine and pull away so softly that I almost thought I'd imagined it.

He opened his eyes again, relaying the silent message through them asking me if this was ok. He took my lack of action as a yes and leant in again, and captured my lips once more, not pulling away this time, but just as gentle and light, and this time I slowly kissed him back. In fiction, they describe the explosions and fireworks that accompany great kisses, and I'd always laughed at the lack of creativity. But at this specific moment I thought their description was lacking. I could literally feel a magnetic force within our lips, willing us to edge closer together as Nathan gently slipped his hand into my hair-

"Ewww, that's gross!"

A/N: it would be really nice to get some more reviews for you guys; I know you're out there!


	17. Chapter 17

**I think it's my first Lucas POV, hopefully you like hearing from him…. He is actually one of my favourite people to write from.**

**I realise this is crazzzzzyyy short, so don't worry I will post the next chapter too! But I will do that very soon! It's already written and ready to go!**

**Thank you for the reviews guys! I have never gotten so many reviews before, even though it was only like five lol.. xD But I love you guys! **

**A couple of you commented on there should be some drama—Don't worry guys, there is A LOT of drama to come! I think this is rare moment when the drama is low…. xD I just had to set them up a little before the storm!**

**Chapter 17- the start of something new**

**Lucas POV**

"Brooke, be ready in two minutes, we're meeting everyone at Slurpy's" I yelled from my bedroom to hers.

A couple of seconds later, she walked over to my doorway.

"What? Now?" she asked. I turned around on my swivel chair and got up to get another t-shirt out the wardrobe.

"Uh, yeah, that's generally when two minutes is," I told her smiling, "We're probably just gonna go to Slurpy's then go hang at Andy's or something."

B lay down on her side on my bed and started fiddling with my Physics textbook.

"Are you ok Brookie Cookie?" I asked her, using her old nickname from when we were kids, to make her smile. For some reason when I was younger I found it easier to say Brookie than Brooke and it didn't take us long to figure out Brookie rhymed with Cookie!

It was strange for Brooke to be quiet, and not to mention she was acting suspicious, and had been all day. Every time I saw her she was texting someone on her phone.

"God, you haven't called me that in ages," she said giggling, " but yeah, I'm fine, "she said, acting her usual bubbly self. "I just can't come with you guys today, I have plans."

"Oh ok, with who?" I asked her.

"Just a friend." She said her eyes on the textbook.

The friends she would normally meet we're all coming to Slurpy's, so for a second I wondered who she could possibly be meeting, then I remembered about her secret boyfriend. At first when I'd seen her get off his bike on the beach, I had to take a double take, because Brooke wasn't the type to get on a random guys motorbike. But then when she said she knew him, I thought good for her, she had to get it out of her system before she had to go to Yale with Felix.

I sat back down on the swivel chair backwards, so I could lean against the back rest, and I rolled over toward the bed.

"Brooks, you know I think it's great that you're seeing someone, but I just want to make sure you know from the start that it's a short term thing,"

"What d'you mean?" she said looking at me curiously.

"It's just I don't want you to get hurt when you have to go to Yale with Felix."

She sighed loudly.

"Look, I know you don't want to be forced to be with someone, but face it, it could be worse. And Felix isn't _that_ bad," I said.

Brooke snorted, and I smiled at her behaviour.

"Ok yeh he is a bit full of himself sometimes but he's hung out with us quite a bit and he's cool."

She gave me a look and I laughed, knowing I couldn't change her original opinion of him. I got up and picked up my wallet and sunglasses, and walked over to the intercom.

" I need my car out front," I said into it, then looked to Brooke, "Look B, I like pissing off your parents as much as the next guy, but if someone sees you on the back of that guys bike and it gets back to them, all hell will probably break loose,"

I told her that but I knew she would still do it anyway. I rolled my eyes, "Ok, just be careful," I said walking out my bedroom.

"I will," I heard her call when I was halfway down the stairs.

X x x x x x

NPOV

I sat in my car, with the A/C on full blast, parked a road away from Brooke's house. A few minutes later, Brooke got into my car with a white cap on her head and a pair or large sunglasses. She looked over to me and I raised my eyebrows.

"A bit much?" she asked, taking off the glasses and hat, and putting them in her handbag.

"Just a bit," I said, driving out of the cul-de-sac her house was in.

"Sorry, "she said, "I guess I'm a bit paranoid, I mean what exactly are we doing here? What if someone—"she started rambling, and I stopped the car and leaned over to kiss her quickly on the lips to shut her up. The car behind me beeped their horn, but I didn't start driving yet.

"Breathe," I told her. She nodded and I started driving again.

"Look, we'll just take it slow ok? I know you don't want anybody to find out, so like we decided back at the park, we'll be careful."

I drove down the road and traffic caused me to stop in front of Slurpy's. Brooke looked out the window and I followed her gaze, until I noticed a large table in the centre, and I saw Lucas sitting at one of the chairs with an attractive dark blonde on his lap. The whole group was laughing about something, someone had just said.

"So where do they think you are?" I asked her. I was guessing she was supposed to be with them, and judging by the way she was trying to hide her face with her hand, I was right, "And my windows are tinted, they can't see you."

"Oh," she said as she removed her hand, and looking embarrassed. "Luke's convinced I have a secret boyfriend, he saw me getting off your bike that day at the beach. Thank god he didn't recognise you though."

I smiled at the thought of being her 'secret boyfriend', I know I wasn't even her boyfriend at this point but I knew we were more than just friends, judging by the last few kisses we'd shared.

The way she had referred to Lucas by Luke and not by 'Lucas' or by 'my cousin', confirmed my thoughts that she knew that I had a history with him, and I knew who he was, but I didn't know just how much she knew.

"I hate lying to him though!" she said.

"Then don't," I suggested, knowing it wasn't an option for her.

She scoffed, "Yeah right! He isn't exactly the biggest fan of you or your school,"

We sat in silence for a few minutes with Brooke sneaking looks at me every couple of seconds. I could tell she wanted to say something. Eventually she came out with it.

"So you guys used to be friends when you were young, what happened?"She asked me the one question I wanted to avoid. At least I know now that she didn't know. I'm guessing Lucas wouldn't tell her either.

"You know, we were kids at the time. Anyway, where do you want to go today?" I said, trying to cleverly change the subject without her realising.

X x x x x x x

**A/N: I know the story is pretty suckish right now, but I really do promise it does get better! I just wrote the first few when I was younger, and you can kind of tell in the writing, but soon you'll see the writing get a lot more mature and better, just stick with me please…!**

**Review and let me know what you think so I can post the next one !**

**Love you all, **

**Flips, x**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: hey guys, hopefully this will be better than the last chapter, because I wasn't too happy with it myself, and again, this was meant to be longer but I didn't want to add on the next scene yet. I'm also hoping I will get some reviews for this one ...=) ( pretty please, with sugar on top)**

**Sorry it's been a while, I had an exam. **

_Chapter 18- Red hoodie_

_**Four weeks later**_

**NPOV**

"Oh come on! Just admit it! You let me win!" Brooke said laughing.

"I did not!" I said sticking to my story.

"Nate! You've been riding for years! You really expect me to believe, that I could beat you!"

"Hey, you underestimate yourself Dee! You've gotten really good the last couple of weeks!" I told her.

"Sure, sure," she said either finally accepting that I had let her win or playing along to my lie.

Over the few weeks we had spent a lot of time together, trying to get away when we could, which was proving difficult recently with the basketball team wanting to fit in extra practises to make we were ready for the re-match against Riverdale and with Brooke tied up with her own commitments with her friends and the cheerleading team. I had been teaching Brooke how to ride a dirt bike, and she had been getting better every day. After she had gotten a bit more confident, we started riding out to a remote section of the beach and doing random things, like have a picnic and then drive back before it got dark.

We had spent most of our time together at the bike track, or a isolated section of the beach or park, to avoid us being spotted by either of our friends

Today, after being at the track, we had driven up to a little diner about a half hour away, to get some lunch, before heading back home.

A middle aged waitress came up to our booth in the back.

"Can I get you kids any dessert?" she asked, taking her notebook out of her apron. I took out the dessert menus from the holder on the side of the table and passed one to Brooke.

"I'll have the chocolate crumble, and a cappuccino," I told her. Brooke eyes were scanning the menu

"I'll have a lemon cheesecake," she said. The lady wrote down out orders then took the menus away.

"I'll be back in a second, " I told Brooke nodding toward the bathroom. She smiled and nodded and took a sip of her coke.

On the way back from the bathroom, I could see the waitress putting down our dessert on the table. I was about to go over when I saw a girl I recognised as Brooke's friend walk in with a few other girls. They noticed Brooke right away.

"B! What're you doing here?" she asked her.

I walked over to a large archway, close to the table, but with a large plant on the side that I could hide behind. From here I could see the back of Brooke.

"Oh, I just got hungry," she said casually.

"I can see that," the girl said looking at both plates of desserts on the table, "Why didn't you just go somewhere local? Why bother to drive out to Wetstone?"

"Right back at you," I heard Brooke say back.

"Marlowe's didn't have that dress I needed in the colour I wanted and their Wetstone branch did, so we came down to pick it up, and just stopped for a snack. I did call you to see if you wanted to come but ..."

"I know, I got your message, that's why I drove down, and I guessed you would probably stop for lunch so..."She said. I could see her trying to look behind her, probably expecting me to walk out of the bathroom any second.

"Oh." Her friend thought for a moment. "That was lucky. Anyway, you're here now," Her friends all slid into the booth. Two opposite her and one next to her.

"Are you here alone?" one of her other friends, a brunette said, picking up my red hoodie from the seat. Brooke spluttered on her drink.

"Yes! That's Lucas's, I picked it up instead of mine of the way out," she said. I let out the breath I had been holding. She took the hoodie out of her friends hand and put it on over her tank top, and I couldn't help but grin at her save.

"It's boiling outside," Her friend looked at her suspiciously.

"Oh Alex, you know me, always cold," her voice sounding an octave higher than it usually was.

"So, anyway Peyton, show her the shoes you got to match the dress," the other girl, that she had addressed as Alex said.

After that their conversation was about clothes and Brooke sat there in silence pretending to look interested, and struggling to eat both desserts, to justify why she had ordered both in the first place. Even though I should have been worried at nearly being caught out, I couldn't help but see the funny side of the situation.

Now that they were here, there was no way she could ditch them now. I decided I should probably leave, and I would catch up with her later. I walked around the other side of the archway and paid the lady at the cashier, then was about to walk out the door, but before I did, I turned around and saw Brooke looking at me from the table. I smiled at her to let her know it was ok, at gave her a, little wink.

Before I walked out, I heard her friend, who I had heard them all call Peyton say, "You know B, we should really talk about your calorie intake..."

X x x x x x x x x x

BPOV

The dialling out sound rang four times and I was about to hang up when he picked up.

"Hey," Nathan said.

"Hi... I'm really sorry about earlier," I told him. After I had seen him sneak out of the restaurant, I was grateful; he had understood and had felt really bad for cutting our date short. After he had gone, I had been forced to eat both cakes, and finish his cappuccino as well as my coke. After I had finished them, while feeling extremely sick, it had occurred to me how I could have just asked to have one packed and told the girls that it was for Lucas or something.

We had stayed at the diner for about another twenty minutes, and then I had no other option but to trail around some shops with them for another two hours, before Alex gave me a ride home. Luckily the fact that I didn't have my car didn't register with any of them how I had gotten there in the first place.

"It's ok, I totally get it, if it had been my friends, I probably would have had to do the same," he said. I smiled to myself to how understanding he was being.

I finished re-arranging the pillows on my bed and collapsed back onto them.

"I just wish it was easier, you know, and we didn't have to hide," I said sighing.

"Dee! It will get better, I promise. Look, what are you doing tomorrow night?"

"Nothing, why?"

"Because I'm asking you out on our first date," he said.

I laughed, "Our first date! I'm pretty sure, we've been on that already. We have been going out for about four weeks now..."

"No, I mean out first "proper" date, not spending time together, while trying to hide from everyone else, So what do you say to dinner?"

"Dinner? You mean in a real restaurant? With real people? With food prepared for us?" I said, acting like anything besides our usual hiding out, was too good to be true.

"Ha ha, very funny, but yes. We can drive out to Sandle Coast, and I'm pretty certain nobody will look for us there. "

Sandle coast was about an hour away. When I was a kid we used to drive up in the holidays. It had most of the best beaches there. I was also certain we wouldn't run into anybody we knew, in a town which was an hour away, and if people were to make the drive out, I highly doubted they would do it on a school night.

"That sounds amazing," I said grinning to myself, thinking of getting a night together where we didn't have to be looking over our shoulders every five minutes.

"Good, I know a little place, we can go to. They have a dress code, so nothing casual."

After our phone call, I lay on my bed thinking about tomorrow night.

I thought of the two of us getting all dressed up to go on our dinner date. So far, everything we had done had been pretty casual, and we had spent all of it in jeans and t-shirts. So we hadn't made an "effort" yet.

I sat up and started looking in my wardrobe to see which of my many dresses would fit the occasion, feeling nervous about dressing up for him for the first time.

"Hey," Lucas said coming into my room and sitting on my bed. He picked up a paper bag , one of my purchases from being out with the girls and started looking through the cd's I had bought .

"How was your date?" I asked him.

"Haley's great. We get on really well, she's smart, and funny, and she fits into the group well. I think I'm going to break up with her," he said casually. I stopped in my tracks and turned around.

"You're what? Why?" I asked him.

Lucas usually went out with different girls all the time. Most of them were attractive but in my opinion lacking in the brains department. They mostly just wanted to go out with "Lucas Davis". Lucas was pretty happy about that, it was probably every guys dream, going out with a girl that wasn't looking for commitment. Haley was one of the few, who was pretty as well as smart. Haley wasn't from the usual circle of girls Luke normally went out with. We didn't normally cross paths, having completely different friend circles, and all. But they had met whilst Haley was tutoring Chase and I'm glad they had. They had had been going out for two weeks now, I thought it would be the beginning of a serious relationship, his first one in a very long time.

"It's getting serious!" he said as if that was a reason. "She actually called me her boyfriend today."

"So? You are her boyfriend. Why is it you freak whenever anything has potential to be a long term relationship?"

"I so do not!" he said

"Yes you do!"

"Not everyone is looking for a long term relationship, B."

"Ok, how do you that you don't, when you haven't tried—"I started

"I have tried, and that went and bit me on the ass…" he said sitting back against the pillows and crossing his arms like a little kid sulking.

"Not everyone's like her, Luke, you never know you might like it," I said shrugging. It was frustrating that he hadn't let his guard down since Rose. "Look why don't you just see where it takes you? If you come up with a valid reason for breaking up with her, then I give you permission to."

"Ok fine," he said resuming the little kid role, who was giving into something he didn't want to do. Both of us knew full well, that he didn't need my permission to break up with her.

"Are you wearing a guy's hoodie?" he asked me confused. I looked down and saw I was still wearing Nathan's hoodie from earlier. I hadn't taken it off since I had put it on, due to the fact that it was so comfortable. I could faintly smell that familiar smell of Nathan. It was a mixture of aftershave, and soap, a clear sign his Mom did his laundry.

"Umm, isn't it yours? I took it out of laundry?" I said.

I could see Lucas thinking through all of his clothes trying to locate if it was his or not. I wouldn't find it hard to believe he had that many clothes, he lost track.

"I don't think so, red isn't really my colour,"

"Well, you must have bought it, I can't be anyone else's," I said shrugging. Lucas shrugged too.

"Must be then," he said. I can't believe he fell for that. "So can I have it back? "

I froze. I wasn't expecting him to ask for it back, especially since he didn't even remember owning it. And it was pretty normal for me to be wearing the odd piece of Lucas's clothing around the house.

"You said yourself, red isn't your colour," trying to change his mind. I didn't exactly want to hand over Nathan's hoodie, not because I would eventually have to give it back to Nate, but because I liked having it myself. It would also be a freaky to have Lucas wondering around in Nathan's clothes.

"Yeah, you're right, keep it," he said, leaning back against my pillows and reaching for the remote for my television.

I let out a breath in relief.

X x x x x x x

A**/N: I hope you liked it! I promise, the drama is coming…and look Haley has been slightly introduced….!**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Sorry guys, I've been busy! And with no reviews other than one (****Xxx RochiieeBeckiiee xxX**** )**** to remind me I completely forgot to update! You can thank gossipgirl101 for this update!**

**Chapter 19- Dinner date and Drama**

When people say a girl can never have enough dresses, I never really agreed with it until now. Ever since I had gotten home from school I had been searching for the perfect 'not-really-the-first-date-but-it-kinda-is' outfit. And it was proving more difficult than I thought it would, considering it was half six and Nathan would be here in about a half hour. This was the first time I was dressing up for him and I wanted to look perfect. The problem wasn't that I lacked clothes, in fact that would be the opposite. I had a rotating railing in my closet, and I was currently looking at all of my many dresses for the millionth time, but none of them seemed to be the right one. I let out a frustrated sigh and cast my eyes around the various piles of clothes around my room that I had already tried on and discarded. It was then that I saw a red wire handle sticking out from under my bed. I immediately recognised it as a bag from one of my favourite stores in the square, and I pulled it out. I opened the bag and remembered buying the contents about a month ago. I must have come home and thrown all my bags by my bed and that particular one must have been pushed underneath. I emptied the bag out onto my bed and out fell a pair of white beach shorts, and a dress.

The dress was olive green and had a thin layer of black net over the top. It had thick X straps creating a cross effect at the back. It also had a black belt like band, before the dress flowed outwards.

I slipped the dress on and stood in front of the mirror. The dress came to just above my knee, not too long and not too short. It was perfect. The colour was unique and made my hazel eyes and dark brown hair stand out. I looked over to the clock and saw I had about fifteen minutes to be out the door. In record time, I created loose natural looking waves in my hair using a curling iron and applied some light make up. I then selected a pair of Yves Saint Laurent black heels and finished my outfit with a simple black clutch. I opted not to take a jacket due to the still lingering immense heat, even at night. I smiled at my reflection, pleased with finding the right outfit and getting ready, all with five minutes to spare.

I threw my cell; some lip gloss, my keys, some money and gum in the clutch and headed downstairs. I walked into the kitchen and saw my family all inside which was a rare occurrence. It was unusual to see them _together_ and in the _kitchen_ of all places. My mother was sitting at the bar with a glass of red wine, and my Dad was reading some paperwork, whilst pacing the room with a glass of scotch. Lucas had just obviously come out of the pool and was half towelling his hair and half scanning the fridge for a snack. All in the middle of the silence was Ada, trying to cook dinner with everyone around her.

When I walked in nobody except Lucas, who gave me a nod, then continued in his search for food acknowledged me.

"So, I'll be back later," I told nobody in particular.

Both my parents looked up at me.

"Oh, Brooke. Where are you off to?" My Dad asked.

"I have a date," I said without thinking.

"Oh, you're going out with Felix, I'm glad you're finally seeing how lucky you are," my Mother said.

"Oh, I'm not going out with Felix," I said in a strong voice.

"Well why on earth not?" She said. She actually looked surprised.

I sighed and repeated a sentence I had been saying a lot recently, "because I don't like him" I was beginning to feel like a broken record.

She put down the glass in her hand and turned fully in her seat to face me.

"Look, I know you're not happy about the situation Brooke, but you need to do this for your father. For our family. You've been given everything you could possible want in your life and now it's time you showed some appreciation. And there is no need to forever be sulking and acting if though we have put you in a terrible predicament" She said in a stern voice, talking about my Father as if he wasn't in the room. In the background I heard Luke choke on his apple and burst out with a laugh that he quickly contained.

"Lucas." She warned without actually turning around to look at him.

"Sorry," he muttered, but he was still smiling, behind my parents. Ada gently hit him on the arm playfully and gave him a disciplining look.

I could not believe the nerve of my Mother. Sure I'd grown up in a very wealthy family and pretty much gotten anything money could buy, like Nathan had said all those weeks ago, but I sure as hell never got what I wanted: a loving mother and father while I was growing up. After the family had come into our money I knew that I soon turned into an accessory to their perfect life. A prop in the fake image we were projecting to people. Up until now I'd been the perfect dutiful daughter, and done mostly everything they'd ever asked of me.

"Sweetie, our business needs this," she said in an emotive voice. I had been pretty calm on the outside until then but when she called me sweetie, it inflicted a different effect to when Ada did it.

I threw my clutch on the breakfast table next to me and erupted.

"Please mother! Would you just drop it! I'm probably going to end up doing what you want anyway! I'm going to college early so I can go and move in with a guy that I don't like, and eventually marry, just so you and Dad can make another dozen million that you don't need! It's not as if, if you don't get the business deal, we will be destitute! What else do you want from me! Forgive me for not wanting to be in a great mood all the time!" I yelled in an uncharacteristically aggressive manner. I had also been pretty quiet when it had come to my parents and vented in my head at the same time. I certainly never yelled at them before.

The room was silent. Lucas's mouth was open and I could see a piece of apple resting on his tongue. Even Ada had stopped stirring. My dad even looked up from the paperwork. My mother gasped in surprise, and she certainly wouldn't stand for my tone but before she said something back to me, another voice beat her to it.

"How dare you talk to your mother like that young lady? I've sat back and watched you sulk about this for two months now, but I'm not going to stand for it anymore! You will eventually marry Felix, Brooke, and you will do it with a smile on your face, because that's what I'm telling you to do! You had better improve your attitude and fast because you will not embarrass me in front of the Taggaro family this weekend", my Dad said.

I was shocked when my father spoke up. I had almost forgotten he was in the room with us. As usual he had been occupied doing something else and seeming as though he was barely paying any attention to the conversation in the room. I didn't really want to deepen the hole I had already dug for myself, and I didn't want to create a bigger issue.

"I'm sorry Dad, I don't know what came over me, It won't happen again," I looked over to my mother who was now staring at her wine glass like it was the most fascinating thing in the world, "I'm sorry mother, I shouldn't have said those things to you."

She didn't bother to reply. She stubbornly looked anywhere but at me, and carried on with her wine.

"It's ok dear, we understand you need time, we just think you should accept this is one of the sacrifices you have to make in your life." My dad looked calm now, almost as if the last minute hadn't happened.

"Now you go on along to your dinner."

And like that I was dismissed from the room. I was surprised they actually let me go out on the date that wasn't with Felix.

I picked up my clutch from the table and gave Lucas and Ada a nod to say goodbye. The room was still too silent to talk. Lucas was still frozen in place from the shock of my outburst.

I walked out of the room and closed the door behind me and let out a breath I had unconsciously been holding. The silent air out here was a lot more comforting that in there. Just then I felt my phone vibrate once. My signal to know Nathan was outside. I let myself out the house and walked down the long path, trying not to stumble on the gravel while wearing heels. I walked out the gates that were opened by security. One of the younger ones, working tonight looked me up and down and gave me a smile. I smiled back laughing to myself and walked out of the grounds. They were all too afraid of my parents to even contemplate talking to me or Lucas in fear wouldn't talk to the 'help'.

Just to the left I saw Nathan's car parked. He was standing outside leaning against the passenger side of the car watching the sunset. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a white shirt with the top two buttons undone, giving me a view of the start of his smooth chest. He looked casual yet smart. I already knew Nathan was good looking, but if I didn't, tonight would have confirmed any doubts. The way he was looking into the distance reminded me of an Abercrombie model, as cheesy as that sounds.

"Wow," he said finally noticing me. I hadn't said anything up until now, not wanting to disturb his gazing of the sky.

"Hey, to you too," I said. On the inside I was bursting with pride.

"You look amazing," he said. The way he said it made me believe it was genuine and he really thought that, and it wasn't some mandatory line that went with a date.

"Thanks, "I said, sure I was blushing.

He suddenly remembered we had a place to go and he opened the car door for me. I sat down in the passenger seat while he walked around to his own seat.

"So did you buy that dress especially for me?" he said arrogantly but playfully.

"You'd like that wouldn't you? That I went out and bought a dress especially for you," I said rolling my eyes at him.

"Yeah that would probably do a lot for my ego," he said.

"Well, too bad because I've had this dress ages, worn it for other guys, sorry you're not so special Scott."

"Well I think I am so special," he said cockily.

"Why's that?" I said, raising my eyebrows.

He reached behind me, whilst still watching the road and pulled something off my dress. I reached to the back of my dress, thinking something had broken, but everything felt in place. I looked up and Nathan was dangling a clothes tag in front of me. Embarrassed, I quickly tore it out of his hands. He had a smug look on his face but didn't say anything.

"Ok, so I haven't worn it before, but I have had it ages."

Nathan just continued smiling. "Sure you have…"

X x x x x x

Brooke POV

When we arrived at the restaurant in Sandle Coast, the place was small but cosy and decorated with shells and bottles all fitting a beach theme, but it wasn't tacky like many other beachside restaurants. The restaurant had about twelve tables and only three of them were full so far, but it didn't feel awkward with the lack of people. We waited by the hostess's desk to be seated and a young girl, around our age walked up to the desk and picked up two menus.

"Ok, so for two?" she looked up then stopped in her tracks as she noticed Nathan. Her mannerisms suddenly changed and she flipped her hair over the other way and smiled at him. I was slightly annoyed to see him actually smile back.

"Hi, I'm Nikki, and I'll be your waitress tonight," she said in flirty voice.

I stepped up next to Nathan and took his hand. "Hi Nikki," I said in a cheery voice, but I was giving her a look that I hoped was staking out my territory to her.

She flipped around and started leading us to our table.

We both took our seats and she purposely leant across Nathan to pick up our wine glasses.

"So let me know if I can get you anything, anything at all," she said, completely ignoring me. I cannot believe her, she was obviously flirting with a guy who was on a date! The nerve of some people.

"I think we're good, thanks," Nathan said, and finally she walked away, sexily as if he was going to watch her walk away.

"So that was funny, you being jealous," he said laughing.

"I was not jealous!" I said lying.

"Oh come on! The hand holding! Not that I didn't love that, but it was hilarious!"

"You didn't have to encourage her!" I told him.

"So you admit it! And I wasn't encouraging her, I was being polite, what was I supposed to do? ignore her?" he said still amused.

"Ok fine, "I said giving and opening the menu.

We sat for a few minutes in silence, both of us reading our menus. We had spent so much time together over the last few weeks, but now being in this formal setting was making me feel nervous.

"So, the weather was nice today?" I said, and then mentally kicked myself for that being the best I could come up with.

Nathan peeked at me over the top of his menu with raised eyebrows.

"Are we really going to talk about the weather?" he asked.

X x x x x

I shouldn't have worried because before long it started to feel more normal and we couldn't stop talking. The date just sped by and we were already at the dessert stage.

We both gave our dessert orders to Nikki and then Nathan told her to pack them for us. I gave him a questioning look.

"Patience," he simply told me.

She soon came back with two plastic containers. One with my chocolate and strawberry tart and the other with Nathan's Vanilla and chocolate pie. She put two plastic forks on top and also put the bill on the table. Nathan put his black, limitless credit card on top and Nikki's eyes widened as she took it in. After he had gotten his receipt we both got up and Nathan picked up our dessert. As we started to walk out of the door Nikki said after us, "Hope to see you soon." I sighed under my breath but ignored her. Nathan had obviously heard me sigh because he grabbed my hand and stopped me walking further out of the restaurant and pulled me toward him and gave me a passionate kiss right there in front of everyone in the entrance of the restaurant. When he pulled away, I was out of breath and I was pretty sure I had stars in my eyes.

"Thanks for dinner," Nathan said to Nikki as if everything was normal and walked out of the door, tugging me behind him dazed.

When we got back to the car I said, "What was that!"

He shrugged, "oh come on! She was one very small step away from asking me for my number in front of you! And it was obviously bugging you."

I smiled at his thoughtfulness.

"Oh it wasn't just for you," he said seeing my smile. " I wanted to show her I'm way out of her league," he said smirking then walked away from his car toward the beach.

I laughed and playfully hit him. "Oh please!", but then it occurred to me, was he trying to say that I was in his league?

"Where are we going?" I asked him. He ignored me and led me down to the beach. The beach was completely empty due to it being night time. He sat down on the sand and patted the spot next to him, and we began to eat our dessert in front of the crashing waves.

X x x x x x x

"Seriously B, what's up with you being so AWOL lately?" Peyton said.

I was too busy thinking about my date with Nathan the night before to be paying attention to the conversation. She waved her hand in front of my face.

"Sorry what did you say?" I asked.

"See! Like that! You're either too busy to hang out and when you are here, your mind isn't!" she said.

We were all spending the afternoon down on the beach. The guys had found some "foreign hotties" as they put it to play volleyball with and Bevin and Alex had gone to play too, to keep their boyfriends attention on them. I hadn't felt like going with Felix, in fact I encouraged his participation. That would work out perfectly for me, for Paul to fall head over heels for some European beauty and run away with her to elope, leaving me back in Verone with no way of marrying him. I could only hope!

Peyton and I had stayed behind to work on our tans, or at least that was the excuse. Peyt now claimed she tried to get me on her own to find out what was wrong with me. I had been lying there in the white canvas shorts I had found the day before in the bag with the dress and an orange bikini top, enjoying the sun for about five minutes before she had begun to quiz me.

"Nothing's wrong, I swear. I've just been busy lately, and I've had a lot on my mind with my parents and stuff," I told her.

"Then why do I feel like you're keeping something from me?" she whined, "we've been best friends for ten years, I can tell when something's up."

For a split second I thought about telling her how I thought I might be falling in love and tell her the whole story and explain why I've been so busy lately, but then I realised she would probably freak out and not in a good way. She secretly loved the whole NCP-Tree Hill High drama.

Lucas ran up to us and took a coke out of the ice box, and opened it, spilling some on the sand as he took a sip.

"So are you two having fun being boring?" he asked.

"Hey Luke" Peytom said, "I was just trying to figure out why B over here has been acting weird all week, and if anything now is the time to be focused. We have the game and cheer off to be ready for"

Lucas nodded in agreement. He had already had a talk with me last night after I had gotten home after the date. At first he went nuts, applauding me for basically telling my parents to stick it, and then he went on to ask who my secret boyfriend was. When it was clear I wasn't going to let up, he dropped it. After that he had moved onto why I had been acting all weird and suspicious lately. Like I had done to Peyton, I had also had to convince him that everything was cool. Thankfully he had written it off as me being upset over the Felix thing.

Before Peytom and Lucas could gang up on me together, I got up and brushed the sand off my lap.

"Ok, I'm going to get my iPod from the car," I told them and took my sunglasses off my head and put them on.

"Don't think this is over!" Peyton said as I began to walk away. Lucas sat down in my spot and started talking to Nala about something.

I walked through the beach and saw what I now knew as Nathan's house in the distance. Last time I had been there had been in the middle of the night. I wondered if he was home now and whether he was thinking about last night too. Thinking about the night myself brought a grin to my face.

I got to the car park and opened Lucas's car. I took my iPod out of the dash board and put the headphones in my ears and selected my most recent composition playlist to begin, as I was still trying to find ways to improve it. The beginning few sounds of an acoustic guitar filled my eyes as I started heading back to the beach. In the distance I could see that the whole gang had stopped playing volleyball and had all gathered back to where I was sitting earlier. They were all crowded around and I got a strange feeling that something was going on. When I got closer I noticed we weren't the only ones there. Jake, Rachel and a few others from NCP were all having some sort of argument with us. What was strange though, they weren't all standing around Jake like usual, they were standing around someone else? When I finally reached them I saw that they were around Nathan, and he seemed to be leading the conversation. I pulled the headphones out of my eyes just in time to hear him say, "Oh come on Lucas, don't look at me like that! Everybody knew Rachel was screwing me the whole time you were together, not just that once like we said. She needed a REAL man, after being with you! Go on Chase, tell him how you knew."

I froze in my steps completely shocked. The Nathan that was standing in front of me was not the same guy who I had been going out with for the past month. This Nathan was hard and bold and I couldn't read the emotions on his face. I felt like I would burst in tears any second now for not believing the type of guy that he was. I felt ridiculous that only a few minutes before I had been thinking that I might be falling in love with him. I wanted to get out of here and run but I was stuck in my spot. After getting over my initial reaction I took in what he actually said and realised for completely different reasons I wasn't the only one who didn't know how to react. Peyton wasn't too far from me and her mouth was open. From where I was standing I couldn't see Lucas's face but I was betting that he wasn't happy. Nathan stood there looking pleased with himself, and Chase was bright red and didn't quite know where to look. Was it actually true? Did Rachel cheat on Lucas back when they were together? And did Chase know about it the whole time?

Any second now I was expecting a fight to break out and Lucas to rush forward and give Nathan what he deserved, so I was completely surprised when he just shrugged, and turned around and walked away on his own toward his car. On the way he passed me but he looked right through me. I couldn't tell what he was thinking either, and I could normally tell how he was feeling just from one look of his face but today I couldn't begin to even guess. Everybody else was just as surprised at Lucas and both sides were watching him walk away, which meant that, it was that moment when Nathan saw me standing there, since I hadn't been there at the start. As much as I tried to avoid looking at him, our eyes locked and I saw a glimpse of the guy I knew him to be, as I literally saw his change of personality just through his change of expression. He looked panicked to see me for a second and looked like he wanted to say something to me, but obviously couldn't because of all of our friends surrounding us. Rachel started laughing and was saying something to Nathan but he wasn't responding and was still watching me.

"What the hell?" Chase said to Nathan.

"Peyt, can we go?" I asked in a quiet voice, sure that if we stayed a moment longer I actually would cry.

I could tell Peyton wanted to stay and hear the end of the conversation between the two boys but she took one look at my face and nodded. I couldn't help looking up one last time and saw that even though Chase was talking to Nathan, he was still watching me walk away.

I turned around and started walking back the way that I had just come, but this time with Peyton and Alex behind me.

X x x x x x x x

Brooke POV

When I got home, I saw Lucas's car in the driveway and Michel about to get in to park it. I got out of Peyton's car and promised I would call her later. She obviously wanted to know why I had been upset, but didn't press into it too much in the car, but I had managed to convince her I wanted to check on Lucas, which wasn't a complete lie, I had temporarily filed away my feelings about what happened with Nathan because I was genuinely concerned about Lucas. I had never seen him walk away from a fight before, and I knew from experience that when he is quiet, and doesn't react is when there is seriously something wrong.

I walked through the front door, and didn't see Lucas anywhere. I walked through to the kitchen and saw my parents in the room connected to the kitchen which had a home bar, discussing something over mid-afternoon drinks, whilst in the actual kitchen, Lucas stood, acting completely normal, calmly making a sandwich.

"Are you ok Lucas?" I asked concerned.

"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" he said like there was nothing wrong.

"Well I just figured..."

"You mean because I just found out that Nathan didn't sleep with my girlfriend once, like they told me, but the whole time we were going out? And that Chase and everyone pretty much knew and nobody thought to tell me?"

"Well –"

"Yeah, I'd say I was pretty pissed." Lucas took a big bite out of his sandwich and stood there chewing. I didn't know what to say to him to make him feel better.

"Well are you sure people actually knew?" I asked him trying to look on the bright side.

"Well I'm guessing since nobody objected when he said it, yeah they actually did."

I sighed and sat down at the stool. "I'm sorry Luke. I guess this is why you and him stopped being friends."

"Part of the reason, yeah," he said.

There was more? I was curious to know but I knew he probably wouldn't tell me like the last time I had asked and I didn't want to ask right now because I didn't want Lucas to push me away too.

Just then, my Mother walked into the Kitchen side of the room whilst on the telephone.

"Ok, so we'll see you next weekend at the Scott's...Ok darling, bye bye now."

My ears perked up at the sound of Nathan's surname.

"See you where?" I burst out the second she put down the phone.

"That was the Marianna Taggaro, Felix's mother. We were just making arrangements about the Scotts's barbeque next weekend."

"The Scott's are having a barbeque and you're going? " I said completely shocked, "I thought you didn't like them."

"Of course we don't like them, but we must keep up appearances, how would it look if we don't go?" she looked at me like I had just said something ridiculous, "And it's not just me and your father, we're all going."

"All of us?" Lucas asked her. Both of us were probably thinking about having to see Nathan again, but for completely different reasons.

"Yes, the four of us and Felix's family, we'll all be going together, hopefully to show them that we're already linked and warn them not to try joining with the Taggaro's. Brooke, you and Felix will be going together of course."

Me. Lucas. Mom. Dad. Felix. His Parents. Rachel. Nathan. Andy. And all his Nathan's house. Oh boy, next weekend was going to be interesting to say the least…

**Can anyone say DRAMA?**

**That was my favourite chapter so far! It was so fun to write especially the date! Don't kill me about what Nathan did at the beach! But otherwise hope that wasn't too much of a cliffy….bbq anyone?**

**Would love to hear what you thought of that chapter!**

_The clothes that Brooke wore for her date are on my profile! _


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: wow, I can't believe I made it to chapter 20! **

**Bit of a disappointment, in the last chapter, I wrote the longest one yet because I felt bad about not updating, and I only got one review.**

**In this chapter I introduced a few more hints for new storylines, which will come in very soon.**

Chapter 20- BBQ part 1

"Brooke, hurry up it's nearly midday!" I heard my Mom yell from downstairs. I checked my phone one more time before I put it into my purse, and sighed. I hadn't received any missed calls or messages all morning.

Ever since I heard what he said at the beach, Nathan had been constantly calling me and sending me messages, but I had ignored every one of his calls and only read a few of his texts before deleting them. He had apologised too many times to count and said he wanted to explain, and reassure me it wasn't what I thought. I had almost given in a couple of times and called him back to let him explain, but once I saw Lucas still sulking over what happened, I felt bad for him all over again, and felt my anger at Nathan resurface.

I know I wanted him to leave me alone and not call anymore, but now he actually had stopped, I wanted him to call. At least when he was constantly calling I knew he still cared, not that I was considering getting back together with him.

He had tried to get in touch with me twice during the week as well. I had seen him hanging around Slurpy's by himself in a corner, not showing himself to all of my friends. I just ignored him though and pretended like I never saw him. I was still confused over who he was. The guy who he is whenever we're together or the guy who was at the head of NCP's group, who said the things, he did to Lucas.

It was obvious that I would see him today whether I wanted to or not. I mean the barbeque was being held at his house after all. I was still slightly confused about why my parents wanted to go to this barbeque so much if they hated the Scott's but apparently they agreed with the 'keep your enemies close' approach, and also most of their mutual associates would also be there, and they didn't want to risk losing them to Scott Corporation. Last night after watching Lucas take a pack of beer to the pool house with him, obviously preparing for a night in moping, I was sure I didn't want to see Nathan today, but not getting any calls this morning had made me curious to see him again. I wondered if he changed his mind and actually gave up. I felt like I was split down the middle, part of me wanted him to go away and I was mad at him but then the other part of me wanted to hear what excuse he could possible come up with that was good enough.

I groaned out load in frustration and got back into my unmade bed still wearing my summer dress, that I had already put on for the BBQ.

"So I take it you're dreading today too?" Lucas asked, appearing in my room, I peeked out from under the covers and saw him dressed for the barbeque in black pants and a white shirt with a few buttons undone, with his suit jacket in hand. Even though it was a barbeque at someone's house it was still a pretty formal thing, and if you turned up in casual clothes you would probably stick out like a sore thumb, not to mention be the talk of the town for a couple of weeks.

I groaned in response from under the covers and Lucas got into the bed beside me, not caring about creasing his shirt.

I had been so busy thinking about seeing Nathan that I had forgotten how much worse it would be for Lucas. He had to go back and see the guy who told him all that stuff, who he hated all whilst being pleasant in his house. That had to suck.

"I would gladly go with Felix, if I could avoid seeing Nathan and NCP's lot," he said. He thought I was all upset about having to go to the event with Felix by my side, which I was but to tell the truth I hadn't had time to think about that.

"It will be ok Luke, I mean he can't exactly start anything in his house, in front of all our parents and stuff."

"It's not that, I don't care if he says anything to me, in fact I welcome it. It's just so embarrassing to see everyone there who heard."

"Oh come on, don't worry about that, who gives a crap what NCP think? And our friends aren't exactly going to believe what he said, and you shouldn't believe it yourself"

The last week, Lucas had avoided most of our friends, barely hanging out with us, and especially not talking to Chase. Lucas was normally the centre of the group, not in a bad way, but in a 'he's the glue' sort of way. It felt weird to hang out without him. Chase had asked me how Lucas was doing, and I had told him, not too well, but had left it like that. I didn't really want to get involved. And since during the week he hadn't exactly pleaded his innocence, I think Nathan was right and Chase knew the whole time. But he obviously was upset that Lucas wasn't talking to him and I was starting to feel bad for him.

"Oh I don't believe it! I know I'm all man! And I know quite a few lucky ladies who could vouch for that too. I don't even give a crap about Nathan. I'm just mad at Chase and the situation."

"Ok ewww," I said pulling a face.

"I'm done feeling sorry for myself, I'm back"

"And Chase?" I asked.

"That's a different story," he said.

"But he's your best friend, don't you think you should at least hear him out" I tried.

"It's not as easy as that, he broke the code."

I looked at him questioningly.

"You know the guy code? 'thou shall tell thou friend when his girlfriend is sleeping with another guy behind his back !"

I couldn't help but laugh.

"But seriously, what do you say we both just get through today, and then we can come home and pig out on pizza?"

"Sounds like a plan," I said smiling thinking of the heart attack my Mother would have to see me eating a delivered pizza, let alone what the neighbours would think about the delivery guy at the door.

Just then my Mother appeared in the doorway wearing a dark green knee length skirt and white blouse, and a huge green sun hat.

"What on earth are the pair of you doing in bed? There is no time to iron out creases from clothes in the schedule, and the Taggaro's will be here any minute!" she then walked off in a huff. Once she had gone, Lucas and I couldn't help but laugh.

"The infamous Victoria Davis," I said rolling my eyes.

"What do you say we wait another few minutes just to tick her off?" Luke said.

"Sure, why not," I said shrugging.

After another five minutes we both got out of bed and went downstairs. My Dad was straightening his tie in the hallway mirror. My mother also walked into the hallway from the dining room.

"Now both of you, today requires your best behaviour. There is no room for mistakes," My Dad said.

My mother joined in with, "Brooke that means you will be the charming girl that the Taggaro's will want in their family, and you will look happy to be with Felix."

"And Lucas, I don't want any sort of ruckus to embarrass us today, in front of all our friends and business associates, and I especially don't want to see any problems with Mark Jagelski's son or any other students at North Carolina Prep." My Dad finished. They obviously had planned their little speech. They both exchanged eye contact then began speaking again.

"If however today does not go as planned, there will be repercussions for everybody. Lucas, basketball will be out of the window, and Brooke, maybe we will see fit that it is improper to go to Yale with Felix without being married."

Under any circumstances I did not want to be married to Felix before Yale, as that would mean I would have to be married to him by next year and I would have even less of a chance of getting out of it. I swallowed and took in their threat, which was obviously going to work.

Before we could say anything the doorbell rang and I could see a few shadows behind the door. My Mother was standing right by the door, but hissed for Ada. Ada came hurrying into the room, and we all took our places. My parents stood in the dining room ready to walk in the same time as them, and me and Lucas stood without any imperfections by the stairs playing the role of the perfect children.

Ada opened the door and Felix and his parents were standing behind it. Felix, like Lucas was dressed up. He was wearing a grey suit, including wearing the jacket despite the heat. He was clearly one of those people that could pull off wearing a pink shirt, and he knew it, which I could tell from his confident stance.

"Victoria, darling," Felixs mother said, walking in to air kiss my mother on both cheeks. Both the Dad's shook hands.

"Ah, there she is!" Felix's mother said, walking toward me like I was some prize. She walked over to me with her arms wide open and gave me a hug, and an air kiss. I had met his Dad before but not his mother. Maybe Felix's fake British accent wasn't so fake, because his Mother had a British accent too.

"Hello," I said putting all my energy into giving her a smile, knowing I was under my parents' watchful eye.

"What do you say; we get this show on the road?" Felix's dad said. My parents nodded and they all started to leave the house until it was Lucas, Felix and me left. I picked up my purse from the hallway table and Felix put his hand on my very lower back to guide me out, about a centimetre away from being indecent. I slapped his hand away.

"Hey B," he said smirking, unfazed by me pushing his hand away. I made a disgusted sound which he also ignored.

I looked over to Lucas to see if he had seen, so I could finally prove that Felix was not a good guy, but he was too busy checking something on his phone.

"Nice pink handkerchief," I said sarcastically to Felix, gesturing to his jacket pocket.

"It's not pink its salmon," Felix sneered. "and it matches my shirt!"

I rolled my eyes. He probably spent longer picking out his outfit than I did.

When we got outside Michel had already brought our cars around.

We all piled into two cars to go to the Scott's. When we arrived to the house, my first time in broad daylight, were all preparing to get out of the car and go inside when my Mother said, "Living in a beach house all year around, I've never heard of anything so barbaric."

Felixs Mother nodded, "I agree."

They were both obviously jealous of the beautiful stone structure in front of them. You could hardly call it a beach house let alone a second class home. I wanted to interrupt and tell them it was only while they were renovating their usual house, but I didn't want to explain how I had gotten that information.

"It will be wonderful to see the Scott's again, I used to know the wife very well, and we used to be at the country club together," Felix's Mother said. I saw my Mom give my Dad a look, which showed they were clearly annoyed the Taggaro's and the Scott's had any sort of relationship.

We rang the doorbell and one of the waitresses opened it. She told us everybody was outside. We walked slowly through the house to get to the backyard. The house was beautiful, and big, but the difference was between ours and this house, was that it was so homely and inviting. They also had lots of knickknacks around like art work the kids had made over time and pictures of them clearly having fun at various places. The only photographs we had downstairs in our house we portraits of the family that we had had taken.

There was already a large crowd gathered in their huge backyard. There was about ten waiting staff in uniform all roaming through the crowd with platters in their hands. Most of the guests were adults, but there were a fair share of their children hanging about in their own groups, half of who I recognised, the rest must go to NCP. Even though the two senior classes of our schools didn't get on very well, in this small town, most of our parents all socialised and worked with each other, so at events like these, the drama was usually kept to a minimum. There was no sign of Nathan yet but I could see Jake talking to a few others. One of the waitresses presented a tray of champagne, and all the adults all took a flute. Lucas picked one up too and winked at her, but my Dad who was next to him casually took it out of his hands and put it back on the tray. Just then the people I assumed were Nathan's parents appeared.

Nathan's dad was wearing cream trousers and a patterned summery shirt shirt, standing out amongst the rest of the men dressed in suits. Nathan's Mom was wearing a casual summer dress.

"Oh Karen! How lovely to see you!" Felixs mother gushed, leaning forward to give her a hug.

"Oh Marianna, it's been too long!" Nathan's Mom said, "And Victoria, I haven't seen you in a long time!"

Nathan's Mom went to hug my Mother too, which I found so strange because I was so used to hearing about my parents contempt for Nathans. All of our parents started making light conversation, as if they had all been friends for a very long time.

"Why don't you kids go and find your friends, they're all around somewhere," Nathan's Mom said after a while. She seemed nice, the complete opposite to how my mother had been talking about her.

Just before we were about to leave I heard a high pitched voice call my name, "Brooke!" I turned around and Isabel ran up to me giving me a hug around my waist. My parents looked alarmed and everybody was obviously confused as to how the little girl knew me. Lucas was also giving me a strange look. I froze, and looked at Izzie, trying to think of what to say. Thankfully the little girl was smart, and read my panicked expression.

"Oh I met Brooke at the park, when I got lost, she took me to the cafe to find my brother," she said sweetly.

"Ah, isn't that sweet, oh, this is my daughter, Isabel," Nathan's Mom, said introducing her to our parents. They all started talking about how much she had grown since the last time they had seen her. While they were still talking, Lucas gestured for us to leave and as the three of us started walking away Izzie gave me a discrete wink, and I was thankful for the intelligent little girl.

As soon as we had left our parents, Alex spotted us and left her parents and came on over.

"Hey guys," she said smiling, "Lucas, nice to see you around. Long time no see."

I saw Chase spot us across the backyard and start to make his way over.

"Oh, god, he won't leave me alone," She said pulling a face.

"So I guess I missed a lot in a week, last time I saw you guys, you were stuck at the lips," Lucas said, then grinned at his play on words.

"Yeah, I haven't talked to him since I found out he knew about the Nathan and Rachel thing. I can't believe he didn't tell you this whole time, what kind of a friend does that! You must have been so upset, you poor baby" she said, patting his arm in a friendly way.

Lucas got a look on his face, one that I recognised as him coming up with a scheme. Chase was getting closer now and I could see he would be here any minute.

"Yeah, I have been pretty upset, but I'm trying to be strong, you know?" Lucas said, exaggerating his sadness by a mile, "Hey, why don't we go and grab some punch?"

Now I saw what he was doing, and didn't like it one bit. I know he was mad at Chase but moving in on his girlfriend who was completely oblivious to what he was trying to do, wasn't a good idea.

Just as Chase arrived and was about to say something to Lucas, Lucas blanked him and put his arm around Alex and they started walking off toward the refreshment table. As he passed me, I gave him a warning glare, which he chose to ignore.

Chase sighed. He said a quick hello to us, and then moved on to try and casually spy on them.

"What do you say we go and grab some drinks too?" Felix said. I had almost forgotten he was here.

"Why don't you go and grab some drinks and I'll go and find our friends," I said, trying to get a few moments of peace. He misread the reasons behind my suggestion and happily went off to the refreshments table.

I tried to casually scan the crowd looking to see if I could find Nathan, but I couldn't spot him anywhere. I saw Jake standing with a man who I knew as his father, talking to another man who was probably one of his father's business associates. It was obvious he was pretending to look interested; I could see him staring at something else on the other side though. I followed his gaze and saw Rachel talking to a guy I didn't recognise. She was wearing what looked like a stylish cut up version of a maxi dress. It was composed of a crop top with a high waisted long flowy skirt. Leaving about an inch of skin exposed in between the two pieces of clothing. She was laughing at something the guy had said, obviously flirting. I felt nothing but annoyance and I looked at her, like I normally did, but this time I was more disgusted by her, knowing she had slept with Nathan. I started to feel a pang of jealousy but quickly reminded myself that I didn't want to be with Nathan anyway.

Across the back yard was a beautiful rustic looking stone archway, and there seemed to be some picnic tables and garden lights set up on the other side next to the pool. Last time I was here during the night, I vaguely remembered there being some outdoor guy equipment based there but they had obviously put it away for today. On that side of the arch is where most of the teenagers seemed to be based. I walked over and through the arch, scanning the crowd for my friends. I heard Nala before I saw her, which led me to see the table underneath a large willow tree. I could see Peyton, Liam, Skills and Andrea already sitting around it with drinks in their hands. Just when I was about to make my way over, Felix popped up behind me.

"Here you go, "he said handing me one of the Champagne glasses with a wedge of a strawberry on the edge filled with a yellow fruit punch inside, instead of the alcohol. I guessed it was the 'kiddy' version on offer. It made me laugh how hard our parents tried to stick to the law when they fully knew most of us were more experienced with drinking than they probably were. I mean what did they think we did at house parties…

"Thanks," I said taking it from him. Remembering what my parents had said, I figured there was no need to be unpleasant to him unless he did something to annoy me. "They're all over there," I told him, walking over to the table.

"Hey B, love your dress," Andrea said as we approached, looking at my simple yellow cotton summer dress, which was the first thing I had picked out of my wardrobe, in protest that I didn't want to come today.

"Thanks," I said sitting beside Daniel, leaving Felix to go and sit on the opposite side, next to Liam, who clearly didn't like him because of Peyton's obvious like for him. Finally one person who agreed with me.

X x x x x x x x x

NPOV

"Honey, the Davis's and the Taggaro's just arrived, we should go and say hello," my Mom called into the barbeque area, where I was giving my Dad a hand, who was telling the staff last minute things.

"Sure, I'm on my way," my Dad said to her, "Nathan, just tell the chef the timings for later, and then go and find your friends, enjoy yourself, it's a party!" he said, doing some embarrassing dad dance.

I nodded and proceeded to go and find the chef. It was then that I had finally absorbed what my Mom had said. She said the Davis's had arrived. Since the only Davis's I had ever heard of were Brooke's family, they must be who she was talking about. The last thing I expected was to see Brooke at the party, I can't believe I didn't realise it sooner. But I was glad she was here; maybe here I could finally get to speak to her without her ignoring me or pretending like she hadn't seen me.

Before what happened at the beach a week ago, I scanned her friends for her and she wasn't there, but after my little speech, I had seen her standing there staring at me in a way she had never looked at me before, and I didn't like it. It instantly felt wrong, after looking at her expression.

I didn't mean to say everything that I did, and even now when I look back I can see I was a little harsh. We had seen the Tree Hill High lot down at the beach and Jake thought it had been a while since anything had happened so we should go talk to them. I had been coming up with reasons to avoid conflict for a couple of weeks because of Brooke, but it was only to a limit that I could convince Jake that I wanted to keep things calm because of our plan with her. But after seeing she wasn't at the beach, I didn't really have an excuse. Jake had started off, and Lucas wasn't very hard to provoke. Soon his friends had joined him, and Lucas had made some sort of comment at me about running away from my problems, which annoyed me, and I had been pulled along with the expectations of my friends, and before I knew it I had joined in too. I just wasn't expecting to see Brooke standing there afterward. When we had arrived I hoped she wasn't there and I was glad she wasn't, but when the crowd dispersed and I saw her staring at me with a mixture of confusion and hurt in her eyes I panicked.

I had wanted to go over to her and apologise and explain, but I obviously couldn't in front of everyone, because her friends didn't know about us and out of mine only Jake and a couple of the guys knew about the plan with Brooke. At least the plan was my cover but it wasn't just a plan to me. Before I could do anything she was leaving and my old friend Chase was there having a go at me and I couldn't exactly leave.

I had been trying to call her, and I had sent her text messages but she ignored my calls and wouldn't reply to any texts. After our last date, we had agreed to meet at the park with Izzie the following day, but she had never showed. I was embarrassed to say I had actually tried to 'run into her', and I had gone to places like Slurpy's to see if she was there. I didn't really think my plan through because of course she would be there but she wasn't alone, and I couldn't just wonder up to her as 'Nathan Scott.' I had tried to get in touch with her at least every day, refusing to give up, but I had been too busy helping to set up for today, to call her this morning. I was planning to sneak away from the party scene and try calling her again after helping my Dad when my Mom mentioned she was here.

After hanging out with just my friends this week, I actually missed my random hours here and there with Brooke; it was my outlet away from my friends when being in the centre got too much.

I quickly found Antonio the chef for tonight, and told him what time my parents wanted each course, and then left to go and find Brooke. I walked into the grassy part of the backyard and saw my parents talking to two other couples, one of them I was guessing were Brooke's parents. I scanned the area looking for her. I caught sight of Lucas at the refreshments table talking to a petite blonde girl. I felt bad for a few seconds for my old friend, for what I had told him in front of everyone, but I was soon stuck talking to one of the guests who I didn't recognise but was talking about how much I had grown. Over the woman's shoulder I could see Chase glaring at me while he stood by a tree talking to another guy, who I vaguely remembered as Skills or Skilly or something. The guy left Chase and went onto the area of the yard we had converted into a picnic area, but Chase was still alternating glaring at me and staring at Lucas and the girl.

Finally the woman I was talking to left and I carried on looking for Brooke. I couldn't see her anywhere; she was probably with her friends. Most of the teenagers were in the picnic area by the pool, and I was hoping she was there too. I walked through, and after a quick scan I couldn't see her, but I saw her friend Peyton sitting at a table. Before I could look again, Jake walked over to me and dragged me to a table at the back. On the way I picked up a drink from the buffet.

Julian, Adam and Tim were already there along with Julian and Adams girlfriends. Adam was adding an unknown alcoholic substance from a silver flask into everyone's punch glasses.

"Nate! Man , where've you been?"

"Just helping out my parents and stuff," I said taking a seat at the table with my back to the archway, I held out my cup and Adam added some alcohol into it. I took a sip of it, and pulled a face.

"What the hell is that man?" I said pushing the cup away from me.

Julians's girlfriend Bevin started laughing, "See! I told you, there's something off about that!"

"You know there's something wrong with the alcohol when even Bev notices it!" Jake said and she playfully leaned across the table to hit him with her purse, mumbling, "I'm not that bad!"

"What? I got it out my Dad's liquor cabinet!" Adam said, defending it.

"Whatever, I'll go get us some beers from the kitchen. Just be discrete." I told them, rolling my eyes, and coming to the rescue.

"Sweet," Tim said. I picked up some darkly coloured glasses to hide the content and started going toward the kitchen when I saw her walk in. Brooke walked through the archway and started looking around. As I was on the side, getting the glasses, she hadn't seen me yet. I felt like I had been deprived of seeing her and seeing her now all hit me at once. She was wearing a yellow summer dress which fell to about an inch above her knee, and had her dark hair loose in waves. Since all my friends were distracted I was ready to go and approach her, but before I could, a guy that I had seen a couple of times with her friends walked up to her with two glasses in his hand and handed her one. She said something to him, and then they both walked off to one of the tables. I resisted the urge to go and confront the guy with her. Here, I thought she was missing me too, but she had obviously moved on fast. I suddenly felt like idiot for moping about the last few days.

I walked the other way to the kitchen fuming inside about Brooke. I didn't blame her for being mad at me but I at least expected her to hear me out before she started dating someone and brought him to a party at _my_ house. I came back from the kitchen and forced myself not to look over at the table that she was sitting at. I went back to our table and saw Rachel in my seat.

"Oh hey, Nate, sorry I'm in your seat," she said while I passed out the drinks.

"It's ok Rach, sit," I told her.

"I have a way, we can both sit," she said giggling. Then she got up and pushed me back into the seat then sat side ways on my lap with her arm around my neck to support herself.

Jake gave me a strange look but before I could read it, it was gone.

I was tempted to tell Rachel that she could have the chair and I would just go and get a chair for myself but then I thought about Brooke and how I could move on too, and wrapped my arms around her waist, making sure we were both comfortable.

X x x x x x x x

**A/N: Don't kill me with that chapter! I don't think it was really a cliff hanger, I don't think I'm being too mean!**

**Brooke's dress is on my profile. If it hasn't updated itself yet, just click on the ch19 photo link, it's the same.**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Pretty please review guys! I love this chapter and I want to know what you guys think. About Nathan and Brooke as well as Lucas and the other characters. x**

Chapter 21- BBQ pt 2

BPOV

"Lucas! Seriously! You are being ridiculous!" I told him. We were standing at the separate refreshment and buffet table set up for the kids by the picnic tables.

"Why? I might like Alex," he said shrugging, adding a piece of quiche to his plate.

"Lucas, you know as well as I do that you're doing this for all the wrong reasons, and even though you're mad at him right now, Chase is still your friend, and you still care about him, and in the long run this isn't a good idea—"before I could carry on, he picked up a cocktail sausage on a stick and pushed it into my mouth. I pulled the stick out and chewed the sausage, whacking him on the arm.

"I'm just saying, I'm sure going out with your friend's girlfriend is against the guy code too," I finished, pretty pleased with myself for relating the ending to his own speech from this morning.

"B, I get how you're trying to look out for me, but I can deal with this by myself." he said stubbornly. I was just about to start all over again, but out of the corner of my eye I saw Nathan. I froze and just watched him. He was sitting at a picnic table surrounded by all of his friends, with Rachel on his lap. Now I saw why I didn't get any calls this morning. He was too busy with Rachel to remember me. Even though I was mad at him and I didn't want to get back together with him, seeing him with Rachel annoyed me even more.

"What're you looking at?" Lucas asked me. He looked over to where I was looking. "Ugh, him. what an ass. I can't believe I have to be civil to him today."

He started walking back to our table and turned back. "You coming?"

I was about to follow him but my Mother came up to us, "Brooke, there you are! There are a few people I want you to meet," she said and I shrugged at Luke and followed her.

I soon realised by 'meet' she meant show off all about the business merger. Felix had already been collected by his mother and they were both waiting for us. They spent the next few minutes talking to many people about how it was so lucky we both fell in love, and how we want to go to Yale together and then run the company. My Mother kept nudging me closer to Felix, until I eventually had to stand there with his arm around my waist, without pulling a face while our mothers told people about our relationship, and casually throwing in the fact that our businesses were soon to be linked.

After the latest couple they were talking to went to refill their drinks, Felix's mother turned to us.

"You two make such a beautiful couple, and Brooke, I'm so happy you and Felix have gotten together! In fact next summer before Yale, it would be wonderful for you to be at our family summer house, where you can meet all the family."

"That would be magnificent wouldn't it darling?" my Mother said, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear.

"Can I get any of you anything?" Nathan's Mom said coming up to us.

"I think we're all fine, don't fret just let the staff do it." Felix's Mother said, "So tell us Karen, how have you been? How's business?"

"We're all wonderful, we thought it would be nice to move back to our roots for a while," she said, I could practically hear my mother thinking why anybody would want to do that. "And business is great at the moment." Her attention was averted for a second. "Oh Nathan, sweetie, come here, there are some people I want you to meet,"

Nathan walked past at that second and his Mom pulled him over. He was looking at everybody but me.

"This is Mrs Taggaro and Mrs Davis and their kids, Brooke and Felix." She told him. He muttered a hello, but still remained pretty distant.

"So what have you been doing, have I missed a lot?" Mrs Scott said.

"Well our businesses have plans to merge," My mother finally got to say, "And as icing on the cake, our two little ones have been seeing each other for a long time now, and they're in love, and they've decided to go to Yale together in the fall. Then they can run the company together when we need some time off," she said.

As much as I hoped she wouldn't mention anything about me and Felix, I knew it was inevitable as the whole drama was purely for the Scotts's sake. When she was talking about me and Felix, Nathan looked at me suddenly with a shocked expression. Both our eyes were locked onto each other, both unable to read what the other was thinking.

Our parent's voices were drowned out and it felt like it was just me and Nathan in the garden. Of course half the things my Mother was saying, like us falling in love, wasn't true, but saying 'our children have been forced together' just doesn't sound as good. But for once I didn't care whether Nathan believed it or not, because as far as I was concerned I didn't owe him anything if he could move on to Rachel that quickly.

"Yes, it's great really," I heard Felix say, as he pulled me in front of him and put both his hands on my waist. Nathan had stopped looking at me and he was now glaring at Felix.

"I got to go, Dad's calling me," Nathan said and I could tell her was lying because I could see Mr Scott from here and he was facing the other way. He squeezed his Mom's arm and walked away.

"See how he's all big in front of his friends but he's all quiet when he's in front of Mommy now," Felix whispered in my ear as he walked away. I wanted to defend Nathan but stopped myself.

X x x x x x x x

BPOV

Soon it was getting dark and the garden lights and candles placed all around the garden were all lit. The Scotts's also had brought a band in and people had begun to dance in the gap between starters and dinner. I was sitting at the picnic table feeling sorry for myself when my Mother came over and suggested it might be 'appropriate' for me and Felix to dance. Felix, who had been asking for the last fifteen minutes gladly agreed with her. A few minutes after she left I finally gave in and took his hand, and he led me over to the dance floor. The band was playing 'better together' by Jack Johnson. Just my luck to get a slow song. Felix held one of my hands and put the other on my waist. There was still a considerable amount of space between us. We had been swaying without talking for about thirty seconds when I noticed Nathan staring at us from his table. I was still mad at him and didn't think twice about pulling Felix closer. Felix stumbled, clearly surprised at my change of heart.

"I knew you couldn't resist me," Felix said grinned, and I rolled my eyes, resisting the urge to bring up my dinner.

X x x x x x x x x

NPOV

As much as I tried not to, I couldn't help glancing over at Brooke, who looked content with Taggaro, who was dressed like a preppy douche by the way! I still could not believe she had been dating him while we had been together. After trying to get in touch with her all week, she now probably thought I was a sad little boy who was pining for her.

Before long I saw her get up to go and dance with Felix. I couldn't help but stare at him holding onto her moving in time to the music.

She looked over his shoulder and saw me watching her. I know she only pulled him closer to spite me but two could play at this game.

Rachel was talking to Bevin and Mia, and I pulled at her elbow.

"Do you wanna dance?"

"Sure, how about in a few—"before she could finish I pulled her up and started dragging her to the dance floor.

I heard her mumble "ok, I guess now would be good too."

I picked a spot far enough from Brooke but close enough to still be in her line of vision.

And I pulled Rachel close.

I looked up and just like I thought she would be, she was watching us dance. She pulled Felix even closer if that was possible, and rearranged her hands behind his neck. I could see the fronts of their bodies were touching now, and I was unable to stop myself growling out loud, as Rachel heard and smiled thinking it was in reaction to her.

I swirled Rachel around, and dipped her. She giggled, "I didn't know you were such a good dancer Nate!"

The band changed the music to a slightly faster Latino track, and I began to dance with her salsa style. I raised her arms and trailed my fingers down her arms in slow motion, like I had seen in Dirty Dancing, one of my Mom's 80's movies.

Brooke turned so her back was to Felix and began to dance slowly with her back touching his chest. Her hands were behind her, still around his neck. Then she stopped and took her arms down. She saw me looking at her, and just walked off the dance floor, leaving Felix there confused.

X x x x x x x x x

BPOV

About an hour later, I was seated at the picnic table, while we were all eating. I hadn't really been listening to the group conversation, and I couldn't stop myself and I was busy watching Nathan at his table eating, all while sitting next to Rachel.

Felix was constantly trying to talk to me and I realised I had probably encouraged him with my style of dancing. Now he was convinced I 'wanted him' and was just shy.

After trying to have one better on Nathan while we were dancing, I suddenly felt ridiculous and realised what I was doing with Felix of all people and stopped disgusted with myself.

Nathan got up from his table and walked over to the buffet. "I'll be back," I said getting up. I walked over to the buffet table too and began adding some salad to my plate while standing next to him.

"So I guess congratulations are in order," he said in a cold voice.

"And why is that?" I said in an equally defensive tone.

"You and Taggaro, you're practically getting married," he said laughing meanly.

"And what's it to you? You seem pretty busy with Rachel yourself," I said shrugging. I walked around to the other side of the buffet and added some potatoes to my plate. He followed me over and took some food from the platter next to mine.

"Oh please, don't act so righteous, like your Mom said; you've been with him for a while, which means you were with him at the same time as me, I was never with Rachel when we were dating."

I was happy to have him think I had moved onto Felix, but I wasn't happy to have him thinking I was the sort of girl that would go out with two guys at the same time.

"But hey, I'm not judging you, I get how some girls in this town role, I just don't believe you actually love him because it's impossible to fall in love that quickly."

"I cannot believe after all that time we spent together you don't know me well enough to know I would never do that, but I guess I could be wrong because just when I thought I knew you, I obviously got told otherwise. And just for the record, yes it is possible to be falling in love in just a few weeks," I said focusing on him, since the first time we came to the buffet, as we had to pretend we weren't talking. I threw the tongs back in the bowl and stormed away from him.

I was pretty sure he picked up on the fact that the last comment wasn't about Felix but about him, but I didn't care, because on top of how mad I already was, I was even more mad now that he thought I was 'that kind of girl'

X x x x x x x x

RPOV

After implying that Brooke was basically a slut, I had immediately regretted it after seeing the hurt look on her face. But seeing her with Felix Taggaro and hearing their parents talk about their plans and then seeing Felix with his hands around her waist while they had been dancing had just gotten me all riled up. Partly because I wanted to be the one in his place.

At least I knew now, that she wasn't going out with Felix while she was with me, and even though I told her otherwise, deep down I did know she wasn't the type of person to do that, but for some reason when I had heard her Mom say it I had believed her at first.

I was pretty sure she was also saying that she was falling in love with me and I would be lying if I said I didn't feel the same way, but it was never part of the plan. The plan. I had nearly forgotten about that. Maybe for the sake of not wanting to hurt Brooke, it was a good thing that we're not together anymore so I would never get the chance to hurt her. And as much as the rational side of me was saying this, the stronger side didn't want to stay away.

After sitting back at my table for a few minutes I realised I was probably the one who should have taken that opportunity to talk to her to apologise about the beach, and explain, but after hearing her Mother talk about her and Felix, and after all the dancing, I had forgotten all about that. I mentally kicked myself for not using the opportunity to talk to her in a better way.

X x x x x x x x x

NPOV

Dessert was soon being served and I hadn't seen Brooke since dinner, when she had walked off. After I got back to the table, I was expecting to see her back in her spot but she wasn't there. I had been hoping to find an opportunity to get her on her own so I could apologise.

I walked in the direction of the house, when I saw my Dad talking to someone he did business with. He waved me over I walked over to them.

"Steve, this is my son Nathan, and Nate, this is Steve Mcgowen. He's the CEO of Merchents and Centrino. We do a lot of business together."

"Hello," I said shaking his hand.

"Carl, I have to say, he has grown into quite a young man, before you know it he'll be working with us. Say, have you chosen your college yet young man?" he said.

Before I could speak, my Dad got there first. "It's between Harvard and Brown, I personally like Harvard. It was my Alma mater you know?"

I could not believe he lied just to save himself from the embarrassment of his son not going to college next year. I walked away in the middle of the conversation, not caring if it was rude.

I went into the kitchen to get some peace but it was bustling with waitresses and waiters, but I saw Izzie sitting at the kitchen table eating chocolate cake, talking to the waitresses.

"Hey Iz, got bored of the party?"

"Yeah, there isn't really anyone my age," she said shrugging. My Mom had told her to invite some friends but she still wasn't doing too well in the friend's compartment.

"Have you seen Brooke anywhere?" I asked her.

"Sure, she's I saw her climb up to our balcony about twenty minutes ago," she said sweetly.

"Thanks Iz, you rock!" I kissed her on the top of her head, and picked up two plates of chocolate cake which were waiting to be served and took them up to my room. I opened my balcony door, and sure enough there she was sitting against Izzie's bedroom door on the floor. The balcony was overlooking the whole party, from up here we could see everyone but they couldn't see us unless they looked up.

I silently sat down beside her and put the plate of cake in front of her, but she didn't make a move to react.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"For what?" she asked innocently. She was not going to make this easy for me.

"For everything. I know you're not the kind of person to date two people at the same time, and I'm also sorry for what happened at the beach, it wasn't what it looked like."

"So you didn't sleep with Rachel when Lucas was going out with her?" she asked still looking ahead.

I didn't answer her.

"So I guess I just got my answer." Brooke sat up to leave, but I put my hand on her arm.

"Ok yes, but only three times."

Brooke snorted, "That's not exactly better, because you shouldn't have done it in the first place! Why would you then lie about it in front of everyone and say it was a lot more times?"

"I didn't mean to, it just happened, Lucas made me mad about something, and Jake was pushing me and it just came out!"

"I'm sorry but that's not good enough! You don't just say things to hurt people because someone was provoking you," she said looking at me disapprovingly.

"I know, and I'm really sorry, I feel really bad about it!"

"Ok then what was your excuse about saying the things you did to me at the buffet table?"

"I just got mad because you're going out with Felix, and I guess I just really care about you and I couldn't believe you would move on so fast." I said, my voice getting quieter towards the end.

"I'm not going out with Felix."

"You're not?" I said smiling inside, "Then why—"

"Half of what she said was crap. We aren't going out, we aren't in love. They just want us to be. The part about them wanting us to go to Yale together was true though, despite the fact that I can't stand him," she said sighing.

Even though I was slightly annoyed to hear about her getting pushed to be with Felix, I was even more ecstatic that she wasn't with him and didn't like him.

"And talking about moving on too fast, what about Rachel?" she asked with her arms crossed.

"We're not together, we never were, I was just using her to make you jealous," I said being totally honest with her, feeling bad since she had never been with Felix in the first place.

"What do you say we just forget the last week?" I asked, hoping she would say yes.

"Nathan, it's not as easy as that! I can't just forget what happened at the beach! I didn't know you could be that person, and I didn't like what I saw! I thought I knew you."

"But that's not me, and you do know me! Look Brooke I'm really sorry, and I really want to be with you."

She picked up the plate of chocolate cake and took a bite. I smiled, taking it as a peace gesture.

"Then apologise to Lucas and tell him the truth," She said calmly.

"Yeah right!" I said. She raised her eyebrows at me and put the plate of cake back on the floor, and re-crossed her arms.

"Dee!" I whined, "It not that easy, it goes back a long way with us, and Lucas said stuff to me too, I can't just go up to him and apologise out of the blue" I said sounding like a little kid.

"Well then you can forget it," she said.

I got up slowly and sighed. I made my way back to the stairs going back to the garden. Even though I wanted to be with her, and I also fully understood where she was coming from, there was no way I could just wonder up to Lucas and say sorry. For one he would know something was up, and even with Brooke out of the picture, me and Lucas went back a long way, there was no way we could be friends again, it went further than just me sleeping with Rachel. This wasn't some movie or story, where everything would be ok in the end.

"Brooke?"

"Yeah?" she said.

"I was falling in love with you too," I said honestly, taking a chance. She was completely unreactive to my revelation and I sighed, feeling slightly hurt inside. I walked slowly down the stairs back to the party, but she never came after me.

**A/N: Hope you liked it! Review!**

**Have any of you read this fic: I'm looking for it and I have no idea what it's called! It a Naley story: She leaves after having the baby because she isn't ready to be a mother and she goes on tour and never comes back, leaving Nathan with their daughter. He brings her up and Haley comes back when the girl is like 15/16 ish and wants back in their lives…..any idea what it's called? Its complete…?**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Why an update so soon, you ask? Because I got three reviews like I asked for…and reviews make me update! =)**

**A/N: Hey guys, enjoy this chapter. Really hope I get some feedback! Also this will attempt to shed some light on some questions you may have, but there are more answers to come. Let me know what you think about Lucas's behaviour and also do you like Haley?, and also what you think of the ending….you'll know what I mean when you get there!**

Chapter 22- Flashbacks and revelations

"This is the life!" Peyton said sipping on a fruit cocktail Ada had just made for us. She lay back down on the sun lounger by the pool and peeled of the shirt she had put on over the top of her bikini.

The heat had its downsides, like being in stuffy classrooms and having to go through the school day, but it also had its upsides like now. Straight after school most of us had come back to my house. We were currently neglecting our school work and hanging out by the pool instead. Peyton, Haley and Skills were all sitting in sun loungers while Chase was sitting by the side of the pool, with his legs in the water. I was sitting over the top of an inflatable rubber ring in the pool with a fruit cocktail in my hand. Fortunately for us, everyone pretty much carried swimwear with them in their cars, because we lived so close to the beach and we often made spur of the moment choices to hang out there or come here after school.

"Tell me about it," Skills said spraying some more sun tan lotion on his chest.

"So does anybody know where Lucas is?" Haley asked.

"He was right behind us when we left school, he should have gotten here around the same time as us," I said. By process of elimination I could work out who was probably with him and sighed at the same time as Chase, who had probably just worked out the same, did. Just then as if on cue, Lucas walked through the door with Alex behind him.

"Where have you been!" I said in an angry tone.

"Alright Mom, calm down, we just got distracted by the new ice cream place next to that Chinese restaurant we all like," Lucas said in a jokey voice, ignoring my tone.

"It could actually be some competition for Slurpy's," Alex said taking a seat on the lounger next to Skills. Lucas poured them both a cocktail from the jug and passed one to her and sat down on the edge of her lounger. Out the side of my eye I could see Chase glaring at them. Part of me wanted to yell at Lucas right now to end this ridiculous façade.

"Hey Lucas," Haley said cautiously.

"Oh hey Haley, didn't see you there," Lucas said, then turned his attention back to Alex. "Do you want to check out the new function on the hot tub?"

"Sure," Alex said, taking off her skirt and top, to reveal her green bikini underneath. She picked up a towel from her sports bag and headed to the hot tub on the other side of the backyard with Lucas guiding her with his hand on her lower back.

I saw Haley's eyes fixed on the spot where his hand was, and she looked like she was about to burst into tears any moment. I felt extremely bad even though none of this had anything to do with me. I understood that Lucas wanted to get back at Chase, but even if he was going to do it in this immature way, there was no need for Haley to get hurt in the process. I knew that Lucas had feelings for her, but he was just blinded by his need to get back at Chase.

As soon as they were out of hearing range, Haley sat up and reached for her clothes.

"I think I should go," she said.

"Oh Haley, don't!" I said swimming over to the edge and getting out of the pool. Haley clearly thought she was being discarded like many of the other girls Lucas had been through, and I doubted she would believe me that he felt otherwise. Unlike how I felt about all the other girls, I actually enjoyed having Haley around the group. People that we were all seeing didn't usually hang out with the group on a day to day basis unless it was a long term thing, one of the rules we had made through time. But Haley had been quickly accepted. "It's not what it looks like." I glanced over at the hot tub and Lucas was helping Alex into the pool.

"What he's not trying to get with my girlfriend?" Chase said, the bitterness clearly showing in his voice.

"I can't exactly stay if he wants to be with Alex," Haley said. She had now gathered her belongings and was taking her car keys out of her bag.

"He doesn't want to be with Alex, he's just trying to even with Chase for knowing about Rachel and not telling him!" I exclaimed, getting annoyed with myself for not stopping this earlier.

" I didn't think he was the type of guy to do something like that," She said with a quizzical look on her face, "Even then I still don't feel right about staying," she concluded shrugging. I hoped Lucas hadn't just lost Haley forever over his inability to act like an adult.

"I'll probably see you guys around school?" Haley said leaving, all of us knowing that if she wasn't going out with Lucas any more that would be the extent that we would see her, just passing through school. I thought I heard her voice break slightly at the end as she walked through the house to get out, and I groaned out loud in a strop, frustrated at everything.

"This is starting to get ridiculous!" Peyton said, "Chase, what actually happened back then? Did you actually know about the whole affair like Nathan said?"

"Sort of…" Chase said going red.

"This is the time to come completely clean, if you don't tell us, then we can't possibly help you!" she said.

Chase looked like he was contemplating whether or not to tell us the whole story.

"Don't you want Alex back?" I asked him, trying to convince him.

"Ok fine," he said sighing. He stood up from his spot by the pool, and sat down sideways on the lounger that Haley had been, facing us. He began talking in a quit tone, as if Lucas could hear us all the way from across the yard, when there was no way that he could. "It was during …."

_Flashback_

"_Rachel has seriously grown up lately," Jake said appreciatively as he stared at her from across the theme park, that both their school's had organised as a joint field trip. Rachel was standing by the ice cream stand, finishing off her ice lolly, wearing a pink flowery mini skirt and a white vest top._

"_You're just realising that now? She has been going out with Lucas for like six months now," Liam said._

"_Yeah, I know but she seems different somehow."_

_Just then Rachel finished her ice lolly and threw the wooden stick in the trash can nearby, and wondered over._

"_Hey Nathan," she said smiling sweetly, and then looked to everyone else. "Hey guys, what's up?"_

_All the boys all said hello at the same time in their various ways._

"_So have you been on 'the twister' yet?" Julian said, referring to the parks biggest roller coaster, that's track currently ran above their heads._

"_I want to but I'm way too scared! There's no way I'd be able to go by myself!" she said looking up at the track and pulling a scared face. "But I do really want to go…..Hey Nathan, why don't you come with me?" she said innocently._

"_Me?" he asked, slightly apprehensively._

"_Sure, I think I'd be ok, if I was with someone," she said._

"_Why don't you get one of your girl friends to go with you?" he said._

"_You know what they're like they'd never want to go on a ride like that! And plus I have no idea where they are right now, last time I saw them they were taking pictures with Billy the Badger," she said rolling her eyes, talking about the man going around dressed in a suit of the theme park mascot._

"_Pretty please Nate!" she said putting her bottom lip out pretending to be sad._

"_I don't know how Lucas will feel about that," Nathan said._

"_He'll be glad you're protecting me."_

_Nathan considered it for a moment then nodded. "Ok, cool, join the queue, I'll just go throw this away, he said picking up his empty juice cup._

_She smiled and flounced away toward the line for the ride, after waving goodbye to the rest of the boys._

"_What was that?" Julian said._

"_What?" Nathan asked confused._

"_She was totally coming onto you man!" Jake said, getting excited and talking in a loud voice._

"_What Rachel? No she wasn't, she just wanted somebody to go with," Nathan said oblivious to her._

"_Oh please, she was all like 'Hi Nathan' before she said a collective hi to the rest of us! Then she practically begged you to go with her!" Chase said._

"_Well we are friends, that's probably why she said hello, and I was the first one she probably saw, before she saw any of you."_

"_You can't actually sit there and pretend you don't like her!" Julian said._

"_I don't we're just friends! And common, she's going out with one of my best friends!"_

"_Take a look at her and tell me you don't think she is passably attractive?"_

_Nathan turned to look at Rachel who was sitting on top of a railing that was on the side of the line for the ride._

"_Well she is kinda cute I guess," He said shrugging_

"_I knew you wanted to sleep with her!" Jake said._

"_What! How did you get that from me saying she was cute?" Nathan exclaimed._

"_Nathan, get real, there's this girl who is totally into you, and I can't believe you are passing up the opportunity!"_

"_Ok look, I'm not going to lie, maybe it the situation was different, and she wasn't going out with Lucas then fine. But she is."_

"_Well Lucas isn't here right now, and he won't be back from visiting his Grandparents until next week." Liam said._

"_That's just wrong man," Nathan said throwing his cup in the bin._

"_It's not like they're married or anything! And don't tell me she wouldn't be completely up for it," Jake said._

_Nathan turned to look at Rachel again. She was still sitting on the railing only this time she was talking to two boys who were standing in the queue behind her._

"_Well if you're going to be a loser about it, then there are other people who want to be in your position." Jake said shrugging and taking a sip of his coke._

"_You're the one losing out man," Chase said._

"_Why are you guys pressing for me to do it so much? Why don't you just do it if you think it's such a good idea?"_

"_Because she obviously wants you," Jake said._

_Nathan thought about it for a moment and almost as if Jake knew he just needed the slightest push, he said, "Lucas doesn't ever even need to know"_

_Nathan gave him a questioning look._

"_Lucas's gone for the week, and there is no way she would want him to find out. If anything, you get the good end out of this, she isn't going to be asking for any sort of commitment. You're good to go. Not to mention you can add one of the hottest girls in your school to your list." Chase said, and Nathan thought about how she would be the only one on his 'list'._

_Rachel held on to one of the guys she was talking to, as he helped her get down._

"_Ok, fine, we'll see how it goes," Nathan said._

"_That's my man!" Jake said hitting him on the back, and Nathan walked over to join her, who smiled happily when she saw him and jumped onto him to give him a hug._

_End flashback._

(BPOV)

Peyton punched Chase in the arm, and he yelped in surprise. "What was that for!"

"For being an idiot! You practically convinced him to sleep with Rachel!" Peyton put on a deep voice to imitate him, "'you can add the hottest girl in school to your list'"

"It wasn't like that! You know how guys are, and they were all encouraging him! And you have to admit Rachel is pretty hot," he said defending himself. This time I was the one to hit him.

"Oww!" he yelled again, "What is it with you girls hitting me"

"So what? That's it right? You were there when he decided to go after Rachel, and then you kept it to yourself all this time?"

"Well I couldn't exactly randomly say 'Lucas remember three years ago when Rachel cheated on you with Nathan, I knew about that' and I didn't think Nathan would ever be back in Tree Hill!"

"Come on guys, don't be too hard on him, you know how it is around friends, and if you were in the same situation, you probably wouldn't have said anything either. Why hurt Lucas when Nathan had moved away?" Skills said. Chase looked to him gratefully.

"Well then go talk to Lucas and tell him everything you just told us!" I said.

"Well that was how I knew about the first time."

"There's more?" I said in despair.

"Well it wasn't exactly the one time." I already knew this from what from what Nathan had told me last weekend at the party, but it was all new news for Peyton, who didn't quite believe there was more than one time when Nathan said it at the beach.

"Seriously?" she said, getting excited at the gossip.

"Yeah it carried on even when Lucas was back in town, and obviously we would talk about—"

"We don't need to hear the details!" I said stopping him, not wanting to picture Rachel and Nathan any more than I already had been the last couple of weeks. Peyton gave me a look, showing me she wanted to hear the rest.

"Ok, I'm going to go get Lucas so you two can talk this out right now."

Chase got a nervous look on his face, "he doesn't want to talk to me, I already tried!"

"He doesn't have a choice," I said stepping into my skirt and walking over to the hot tub. Lucas and Alex were sitting at opposite ends talking about something that I couldn't quite catch.

"Can you guys come with me please?" I said sternly interrupting.

Lucas raised one of his eyebrows at me, "Ok Miss Bossy boots, where would you like us to go?"

I had had just about enough of his acting like I was being unreasonable.

"Come on Lucas," Alex said laughing, and getting out and wrapping her towel around herself. Lucas reluctantly followed, and I walked back over to where Chase, Peyton and Skills were sitting.

"What's up," Lucas said to Skills and Peyton as he took the seat in between them, lounging backwards, placing his sunglasses on his head.

"Now that you're back from that ice cream place—" I started to say, intent on making this conversation happen.

"Yeah at the ice cream place, something really weird happened," Lucas said.

"It was totally out of the blue," Alex said.

"What happened," Peyton asked.

I picked up the cocktail glass I had put down earlier and took a long sip, waiting for them to finish their story so I could get on with fixing Lucas and Chase.

"We were waiting in line, then out of nowhere, Nathan Scott comes up to us. He was on his own, and randomly tells me that he exaggerated what he said at the beach and him and Rachel hadn't been in a long affair."

In surprise, I spat out the juice I already had in my mouth and started coughing. Skills started hitting my back and everyone was looking at me.

"Are you ok?" Lucas said giving me a funny look.

"I'm fine, "I said failing at acting completely normal. I was sure the blood had rushed to my face, and they would be able to tell any minute that something was up.

I hadn't spoken to Nathan ever since the barbeque last week. When he refused to apologise to Lucas, I knew he wasn't who I wanted him to be. All week I had been trying to ignore the fact that the last thing he had said to me was that he was falling in love with me. I doubted he would have said it if it wasn't true, but I had seen how upset Lucas was and couldn't just get back together with him because he said ' I love you' how stupid does he think I am? But why would he, now one week later, go and partly apologise to Lucas? Did he expect me to just come running to him, because he did what I wanted to do? Well he obviously doesn't know me that well if he thinks that what I will do. I needed to forget Nathan Scott and focus on something else.

"I can't believe he actually bothered to tell me that! I don't care what he says though, he's still going down!"

"Why? He apologised?" I blurted out.

Lucas looked at me as if I just asked the stupidest question ever. "Because he is an ass." He said as if that answered my question.

"But he just apologised, he didn't have the long affair with Rachel that you thought he did."

"B, this isn't just about Rachel. That was just the final straw in our friendship."

"D'you remember when you nearly got him suspended? That was hilarious!" Skills said.

Lucas laughed, "That's a day to remember! I will never forget the look on his face when his Mom came to pick him up from the principal's office!"

"So wait—you got him in trouble for no reason?" I asked making sure I got my facts straight.

"It wasn't for no reason," Lucas said.

"But it was before you found out about him and Rachel?"

"Yeah," Lucas said, calculating in his head, "Why the sudden interest?" he asked me suspiciously.

"No reason, just wanted to be included in the convo," I said smiling. "I'm actually going to pop out for a bit, I'll be back in a while."

That was the moment when I realised that Nathan was right, and it was a lot more complicated. It went back a long way with them, and it wasn't as simple as him just sleeping with Rachel. I didn't doubt that Lucas hadn't done some stupid things too, and I could now see that he wasn't completely innocent either. All this time when I thought about Nathan and Lucas, I always saw Lucas as the victim.

"Are you ok?," Peyton asked me concerned, "Shall I come with you?" I felt back for a second. I did owe her an explanation, and I could tell she was genuinely concerned for me. I had been leaving her without any explanations for a while, since I had been distracted with Nathan, and she had been my best friend for forever, and I had pretty much always told her everything in the past. But I knew I couldn't tell her about Nathan because she wouldn't understand and she would be just as judgemental as everyone else.

"Oh, don't worry! You stay and enjoy the sun, I'm just going to go run an errand," I said hoping that I sounded at least halfway convincing.

"If you're sure?" she said slowly, and cautiously.

I nodded. Everyone else had already gone back to their reminiscing about the past , and didn't notice me leave. I grabbed a t-shirt from my room and put it on top of my bikini top and skirt, and grabbed my car keys.

Lucas said that Nathan had approached him at the new ice cream place, so I headed into town, hoping he was still there. But I didn't need to go far because before I could get anywhere near The Square, I saw his car which wasn't very hard to spot considering it was bright yellow, drive down a road opposite the one I was about to drive into. I turned the car around and went down the same road. He pulled into a driveway, of a house that was big, but not as big as either of ours. I knew it was Rachel's house. I tried not to think about any reason why Nathan would be going to her house, even though I knew they were friends. There were at least five empty cars already parked in the driveway. I parked very badly on the road by the house, and got out the car to catch him before he went inside.

"Nathan!" I yelled as loudly as I could without getting noticed by anybody else.

He turned around, in response to hearing his name, but before he had a chance to say anything I ran up to him and kissed him hard. He stumbled backward with surprise but quickly got back in control and kissed me back with just as much passion. As much as I didn't want to, I pulled away after a few seconds.

"I'm still mad at you," I said in a stern voice.

"I know, "he said his smile dropping.

"But I also know that I don't always have the best perspective when it comes to you and Lucas, I know that a lot went down between the two of you, and it wasn't completely all your fault. And I know you didn't want to apologise to Lucas, but it means a lot that you did."

His smile slowly returned after hearing the end of my sentence.

"And I still don't like the person I saw you could be—"

"You won't see anything like that again I promise." He said interrupting.

"I better not," I said trying to sound firm but the smile that I couldn't stop appearing on my face gave me away. "Nathan, what you said last week about falling in love with me, I didn't say it back but I feel the same way," I said in a quieter voice, feeling embarrassed for some reason. "And I'm sorr—"

"I know now that I'm not falling in love with you," he said.

I stopped mid flow of my speech and froze. I could feel the blood rushing to my face and felt completely confused. I wondered how humiliating it would be to turn around and get into my car and drive away.

"I'm not falling in love with you anymore. I am in love with you." He said calmly. I had to replay the sentence in my head to make sure I had heard correctly. When I realised that I had, I felt ecstatic and annoyed he had sacred me like that for a second all at the same time.

"I love you too," I said in an almost whisper. I didn't think it was possible but his smile got even bigger. I realised after I said it that it was the complete truth. I did love Nathan, and being apart from him had made me realise it.

We both held eye contact for a few seconds, both of us clearly self-conscious, about admitting to be falling in love, and fully opening up to each other.

"Normally at a point like this I would say something sarcastic—"he started to break the silence.

"Shut up," I said laughing as I kissed him again. He held me tightly around the waist and I had my hands locked around his neck. I realised then how much I had missed having him around the last few weeks.

"Say it again," he mumbled against my lips.

"I love you too," I said repeated.

We were both whispering to each other, not because we thought someone might overhear us but because our words were 'forbidden' and we both knew it. Even though we loved each other I had no idea how this was going to work without hurting the people that we loved. I think he sensed my apprehension because he gently squeezed the hand that he had taken hold of during the kiss, relaying the silent message that everything would be ok. I squeezed back, having faith that he was right.

X x x x x x x x

NPOV

"Hey guys," I said walking into the back yard at Rachel's house. I was sure I was radiating happiness, and as hard as I tried I couldn't stop smiling. Everyone said their own general hello's, and Rachel got up and walked over to me wearing a different outfit from the one she had on earlier at school and gave me a hug. I gently untangled her arms from around me and placed them by her sides as nicely as I could.

"Why don't you come sit down?" she said.

"Actually I have to go."

"Go? You just got here," she complained.

"I know, but my Mom just rang and she's out right now and Isabel's at home with my Dad and he needs to go out so she needs me to babysit until she can get home," I told her hoping she would buy it.

"Don't you have people that work for you to do that sort of stuff?" she asked pulling a face

"Sure, but we like to do stuff like that ourselves, and plus I actually like spending time with my sister."

"Why?" She looked at me like I was crazy, obviously thinking of her own twelve year old sister who she had probably confined to her room while her friends were over.

"Oh Rach," I said laughing, and I ruffled her hair in a friendly gesture. She reached upwards to fix the damage. "I'll call you later."

"Later dude," Jake called out from where he was sitting next to Julian and Bevin.

I waved bye to them and walked out of the house. I got in my car and drove out toward the park, after a few minutes looking in my rear-view mirror to see a Red shiny Ferrari California behind me. I smiled at the driver in the mirror and she smiled back.

X x x x x x x x x x

Rachel POV

"Nathan is acting really weird," I said to everyone else, re-taking my seat after Nathan had left.

"What d'you mean? He's the same," Julian said.

"He keeps popping off without an explanation!" I said.

"He did have an explanation, he has to babysit," Adam said.

Just then the phone rang, I leaned over to the cordless which was on the table beside me and answered it.

"Hi, Honey, it's Karen, Nathan's Mom," she said.

"Oh, Hi Mrs Scott, My mother's actually out at the moment," I told her.

"Actually I wanted to speak to Nathan, he's not answering his cell," she said.

"Oh he left a few minutes ago actually," I told her.

"Oh, ok then, I'll have to wait until he decided to answer his phone. I was just in the middle of making dinner and wanted to know if he would be joining us, so I know how many steaks to make."

I was about to say something about how he would probably be back in time, then it registered what she had just said.

"Did you just say you were home making dinner?" I asked her making sure.

"Yes, I was hoping to have an early family dinner, but I can't seem to get hold of Nathan."

"So you don't need a babysitter for Isabel?"

"A babysitter? I don't see why we would, Dan and I are both home tonight," she said confused.

"I must have misheard Nathan earlier, don't worry," I said.

"If you hear from him, tell him to call home, won't you?"

"Sure, Mrs Scott." I said automatically, while my mind went over what she said.

After I hung up, I told the group what I had just heard.

"So he isn't actually going home to babysit?" Bevin asked.

"Obviously not, something is going on and I am going to find out what," I said out loud, but I was mostly telling myself.

**A/N: Really hoped you like it! Especially the scene where Nathan and Brooke get back together! Let me know your thoughts! Push the Review button and you might just get a new chapter tomorrow! Much love,**

**Flips,**

**X**

**Ps- some of you wanted to know what happened with Lucas and Nathan, so now you know one part of it, Nathan was having an affair with Rachel whilst she was going out with Lucas. And they were supposed to be best friends. But that isn't it…more will be revealed along the way.**

**Also that isn't the end of Haley either, so don't panic! In fact it just means she'll be in it more!, x**

**ALSO IMPORTANT: Does everyone like it brathan? I'm having doubts now that the story would have worked better as Naley, for her character….But I love brooke and Nathan, what does everyone think?**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Oh my gosh! Three updates in three days! And this one is all due to the 5 reviews I got for the last chapter! I've never gotten so many for one chapter before! Let's keep it up, because they make me happy =)….which leads to an update for youuuuuu!**

**A/N2- I did mean to have this out yesterday but as I was doing my bag I realised I didn't have my house keys so the next hour aka. Writing the fic time, was spent looking for my keys (which were in my bag the whole time!) But I tried to write a chapter for you all today!**

Chapter 23- Forgiveness and Families.

(Chase POV)

I walked toward the pool house which doubled as a game room in Luke's house with the point of my mission in my mind. As I approached I could see some shadows of people inside. I burst through the doors without knocking, and saw Alex, Lucas and Skills inside playing pool. They all turned toward the door in surprise.

"Lucas, can I talk to you please?" I said, not taking no as an answer this time.

"There is nothing I want to say to you," He said putting his invisible mask on, hiding all his emotions.

"Fine we'll do it here," I said, picking up the white ball he was about to hit.

"Maybe we should…." Skills said, walking toward the door sensing that we would probably need some space in order to have this conversation. Alex followed him out not acknowledging me, and I tried to ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach when she did. It was hard to believe just a while ago we were amazingly happy together.

It was just me and Lucas left in the room and he just carried on playing the game, aimlessly hitting balls into the holes without the need of a white one.

After not talking to Lucas for a few weeks, I decided I needed to sort this out. Me and Lucas had been best friends for years, and we had never gotten into a fight where we didn't talk. Even though I wanted Alex back, and this was also about her, Lucas's friendship meant a lot to me.

I picked up the last three remaining balls and put them into the holes, speeding up the process. Lucas finally looked me in the eye.

"What?" he said defensively.

"We need to talk about this," I said.

"Then talk," he said crossing his arms. I wasn't expecting him to listen to me so easily, so it threw me for a few seconds, having to fast forward the speech I had mentally prepared on the way over here.

"I knew when the guys were encouraging him to do it." I said. Lucas looked at me blankly, like he was waiting for me to carry on.

"And I heard him talk about it a couple of times afterwards."

"And you didn't think to tell me?" he said. Finally we were getting somewhere; at least he said something to me.

"By the time I thought I should tell you, you already knew, and Nathan had left, and you were going through the other stuff you were at that time. I didn't think it would help you to add salt to the wound by telling you the details. You needed a friend at that time." I let out the breath I had been holding while I let out my whole speech.

Lucas looked at me for a few seconds, and then his expression changed.

"So you didn't want to hurt me more?" he asked.

"No I didn't, and I never thought Nathan would be back, and all this would be brought up again."

"But that's it right? Nothing else you want to tell me?" he said.

Was he going to forgive me? I didn't expect him to just forget it, even after my speech. The aim of today was just to explain myself.

Before I could say anything he said, "Because I don't want to hear any other shit about how that's only half the story and you knew, because then that would be it."

"That's it, I swear," I said holding up my hands, in a surrendering position.

Lucas walked past me and turned the PlayStation on. I was slightly confused as to what I was supposed to do next. Was that it?

"So we're cool?" I asked cautiously. Lucas answered my question by throwing me the PlayStation control next to him. I sat down silently and began playing with him, not knowing what to say, but knowing this was our truce. We were guys after all, what did you expect? A talk about our feelings?

After a few minutes of silence, and twelve zombies later, I said, "About Alex….." then regretted it. I was just getting back into his good graces, I didn't want to push my luck.

"She's your girl man, nothing happened between us."

I smiled to myself , pleased to have the knowledge that nothing romantic happened between them.

"Cool." I said casually, even though I was jumping inside.

We then abandoned all attempts of a heart to heart conversation and went back to discussing 'guy stuff'. I knew damage had been done, and it would take some time to go back to the way we were before but I was just glad we were partially friends again.

Alex and Skills, stepped back into the room warily.

"We didn't hear anything for a while, so just came to make sure one of you didn't kill the other," Skills said.

"We're cool." Lucas said casually as if we had never had a fight.

"Thank god!" Skills said, " I was get sick of having to tip toe between you two!" Skills walked over and started watching the game, while Alex stood silently by the door. I handed the control to Skills and walked over to her.

"Can we talk?" I asked her. She nodded silently and we both walked outside the pool house and sat down by the pool.

"I'm sorry!" we both said at the exact same time, and then we smiled at the co-ordination.

"Look I'm sorry about not hearing you out, I guess I just got upset you would lie to your best friend like that," she said in a soft tone.

"I'm sorry for not telling him," I told her.

"I can see now that you just didn't want to hurt him, and I guess that says something about your friendship." She said.

"I missed you Lil."

"I missed you too. And about Lucas—"

"It's ok I know nothing happened," I told her.

She grinned and jumped into my arms.

X x x x x x x x

(Lucas POV) (one week later)

"Mr Davis!" I jumped out of my daze, at the sound of Mr Manning's voice. He had interrupted my very important task of counting down the minutes until his class was over, and I could catch up with Haley. I could see the back of her head sitting in the front row paying attention and taking notes.

"Since you look so enthralled by my lesson, why don't you tell the class what year the French revolution began?"

"The French had a revolution?" I said arrogantly, knowing full well what the actual answer was. A few of my class mates sniggered, but I was stopped from feeling smug by the bored look on Haley's face.

I could tell Mr Manning was about to say something, but thankfully I was saved by the bell. He sighed and rolled his eyes as students began collecting their books and leaving the class. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Haley leave the classroom and I was about to push through the crowd of students on their way out when Mr Manning called my name. Reluctantly I turned around.

"Mr Davis, I don't know why you think just because you are Captain of the basketball team, and your Uncle is Michael Davis, you can get away with your lack of focus?"

"Sir—"

"You do know even if only one teacher fails you on their class, you will be disqualified from extracurricular activities including basketball."

"But I'm not failing any classes sir," I told him, and it was true, in fact my grades were well over average.

"I know. That's my point, judging from all of your assignments, you are more than able. Then why do you insist on being the class clown?"

After listening to what I'm sure was supposed to be a 'life inspiring' lecture from Mr Manning, he finally let me leave, five minutes later.

Most of the class were in lunch right now, and I knew Haley would be too, so I headed toward the cafeteria with a fast walk. I had been trying to catch up with her all day but this had been the first class I had with her, since she was practically in all the AP classes. Before I got there I spotted her transferring books into her locker from her bag. I took a moment to catch my breath, and then I walked over to her.

"Hey Hales," I said leaning against the locker next to hers. She looked up from what she was doing , then turned back to her mission of changing her books over.

"Oh, hey," she said, her attention not focused on me.

"So, um I haven't seen you around the last couple of days," I told her. The last time I had seen her was the same day Nathan had come up to me and randomly apologised. Since we had been going out for a while, she had recently been the 'newest addition' to our group, and had been hanging out with us a lot but I hadn't seen her for a while.

"Yeah, I've had stuff to do," she said without any feeling. She closed her locker and walked out of the school building and toward the parking lot. I caught up to her and walked beside her. "I didn't think you had noticed, being busy with Alex and all."

"Oh that didn't mean anything, it was just a thing between me and Chase, but it's over now," I reassured her.

"You mean how you had a fight with your best friend so decided to get with his girlfriend?" she said stopping beside her car and looking for her keys in her backpack.

"Well if you put it like that—"I started.

"Look Lucas, we had fun for a while, but I don't really think we're going to work out," she said shrugging. That was the last thing I had expected her to say. This was the first girl that I had had genuine feelings for in a long time, and yes I had been neglecting her for the last few weeks, but it was all over now and everything could go back to normal. It was also the first time a girl had ever given me the 'it's not working out' talk. That was normally my forte.

"Haley, you don't mean that, Look, nothing even happened with Alex."

"Whether it happened or not, I'm not really into the type of guys that would do that to their best friend regardless of what happened. I mean it's not your fault, it's just who you are, I just don't go for guys like that. I guess I should have stayed toward my 'crowd' huh?" she said forcing a smile. She opened her car door and sat down inside the convertible, while I was dumbfounded.

"So it was nice spending time with you, but I doubt I'll see you around. Our friends don't really travel in the same circles," she said before reversing out. The weird thing was she said it casually like it was the most normal thing in the world and she wasn't just breaking up with me.

I stood in the parking lot speechless to what had just happened. Out of all the things I had expected Haley to say, that wasn't it. Nobody had ever broken up with me before. Haley was a breath of fresh air compared to the girls I usually went out with. I actually enjoyed spending time with her that didn't involve sex. It had been a long time since I had been able to connect with someone on that level before.

If it were any other girl I could just go find her and spread some of that charm I had, but this wasn't any girl, it was Haley, and I didn't think she would be the type go for that.

For some reason I had a sinking feeling in my chest saying I had just lost my chance.

X x x x x x

Lucas POV

"Hey," Brooke said with a mouthful of chocolate chip muffin as I walked into the kitchen.

"Hey," I said back to her, taking a bite of her muffin as I passed her on the way to the fridge, then handing it back to her.

"I think Haley just broke up with me, "I told her, still troubled about it.

"I want to sympathize with you, but frankly I don't blame her," she pouring herself a glass of milk.

"What?" I said.

"Oh common Lucas, you were practically flirting with Alex whilst standing right next to her! Not to mention you were acting like she didn't exist! The poor girl probably thought you were done playing with her like all the other girls you go out with!"

"Hey, I don't 'play' with girls," I said defending myself, and sitting opposite her with my own muffin.

"Oh please! You go through girls like you go through underwear! Your relationship with Haley was the most stable relationship you've been in, not to mention she was in the small minority of girls you've gone out with that actually had a brain."

"That's a bit of an exaggeration B," I said, knowing full well that there was some truth to what she was saying.

"Whatever, I'm just saying, you just lost something good," she said shrugging.

I haven't lost her yet, I told myself.

"So Peyton told me about the change of date for the annual cheer off," she said changing the subject.

"Yeah, we got the date for the rematch against NCP today too," I said. Ever since the fire alarm had gone off on our original basketball game, we had all been awaiting the new date for the game, and our schools had finally agreed on four weeks' time.

"This time, Nathan is going down," I said, thinking about how it wasn't an option for our school to lose.

"There's nothing like a good clean game," Brooke said in a strange high pitched voice.

"I don't give a crap about the game, Nathan's been getting on my nerves for long enough," I told her. "Can you believe Jake and Nathan actually had the audacity to come and tell me about the rematch date as soon as they'd heard? They were waiting outside school. They're too confident for their own good, they need something to knock them down a few pegs," I said running schemes through my head.

"Don't you dare do anything stupid!" Brooke suddenly said.

"Jeez, calm down B, I won't get caught, I'll be careful," I told her, slightly confused about her off behaviour. She was obviously concerned about me getting caught and getting in trouble with Larko, and Uncle Jonathon.

"It's just not necessary, don't you ever think you get on their nerves just as much as they get on yours?" she said.

I pretended to actually think about it then said, "No," snorting. "What is up with you today?" I asked her laughing. "You're being a weirdo."

She looked at me for a second then, shook her head. "Nothing," she said, like she stopped herself saying what she actually wanted to say. She got up and placed her empty glass by the sink.

Before I could stop myself I said, "Whose side are you on anyway?" I was getting sick of her defending NCP, and continually saying they didn't deserve whatever we did to them.

She froze in her tracks and turned around, "What's that supposed to mean?" she said

"Sorry, I didn't mean that. I'm just upset over Haley. You just seem too adamant about not doing anything to NCP, and it was getting on my nerves."

"I just think the way we see them is the way they see us, and all this crap can be avoided," she said crossing her arms.

"Brooke, remember this, Nathan Scott can't be trusted, and neither can any of his friends," I told her. Ever since the beginning, Brooke had always been opposed to any trouble with NCP, so her being negative now didn't shock me, but now that Nathan was back we had to be extra careful, and I don't know why but I had a sinking feeling that if any of us was going to get roped into their lies, and believing that they were the innocent ones, it would be her.

She sighed, "Ok, fine. Just don't do anything stupid without talking to the group." She obviously wanted to avoid a fight too.

I nodded. "So are you coming to Skills'?" I asked her.

"No, I have some errands to run," she said.

"Errands?" I asked her curiously. She wouldn't have any errands and chores like other teenagers, as we had people to do that sort of stuff, so the only other think I could think of was shopping. But surely that could wait, and all her friends, who would go shopping with her, were all going to be at Skills' house. Recently it had felt like she wasn't around and she was always leaving to go and do something.

"Yeah, I have a calculus session after school."

"Calculus? But then wouldn't Peyton and Skills also be in that class too?" I asked her.

"Ok fine, you got it out of me, it's not a class it's a make-up test. I failed a quiz last week and I got a chance to retake it before grades get sent home next week."

"Oh, ok, good luck," I said to her. It was strange for Brooke to be failing a class, but she was probably just as preoccupied with cheerleading as I was with basketball the last few weeks.

Just then Aunt Victoria walked into the room.

"Children, Ada needs to know numbers for dinner," she said.

"I'm out," I said.

"Me too," Brooke said.

"Very well, I'll inform Ada, it is just a meal for two. I would appreciate it if you could inform me if you are going to be absent from supper in advance, it's so stressful organising the evening meal," she said sighing, taking a pill out of a bottle of aspirin from the top shelf.

X x x x x x

(Brooke POV)

"I told him I had calculus," I told Nathan, as we drove over to his house.

"Ohh, calculus, is that my new name?" he asked smiling.

I laughed and playfully hit him on the arm, as he drove into his front drive.

"Oh, My Mom's home, "he said casually parking up next to a maroon Mercedes.

"What?" I said panicked. "You said that nobody would be home!" I ran a million scenarios through my head at the same time, all ending with his mother kicking me out of the house.

"Don't worry it will be ok," he said, obviously not seeing why I was worried. If the situation was the other way around and I was bringing Nathan home, while my parents were there it would probably start World War Three. Even though our schools, as well as Lucas and Nathan had this petty rivalry thing going on, our parents were also business rivals and even though they were civil in public, I knew my parents wanted to drive the Scott's out of business. The last thing they would ever do is welcome their son into their house. Even though I had briefly met her at the barbeque, she was nice, but I didn't know if that was just in public. I also hoped she didn't remember me, because the last conversation she had had about me revolved around my close relationship with Felix, and the last thing I wanted was for her to think I was two timing her son.

"I'm still not sure this is a good idea," I told him being honest. "Won't she mind?"

He smirked, "I'm a big boy Brooke. I don't think she will mind I have a friend over to play, without warning her to plan the snacks first," he said laughing.

"You know that's not what I meant," I said raising my eyebrows.

"I know what you meant, and you don't have to worry about that either. Look just trust me?"

I thought about it for a second, and if Nathan thought it wasn't ok, it would end up badly for him too, so he was obviously pretty confident.

I nodded.

"Good," he said smiling before he kissed my cheek and got out of the car. Before I could undo my seatbelt, he was already on my side of the car, opening the door.

I took his hand as I got out of the car, and he led me toward the house. Considering the expense of the house, they didn't have that much security surrounding it. Only the one man by the gate, in comparison to our small security cabin always with someone watching the perimeter. The front door wasn't locked and Nathan just let us in, and led me toward the kitchen, from where some delicious smells were coming our way.

"Oh, hi sweetie," she said distractedly to Nathan, looking around a big cupboard for something. The kitchen was full of food, and Nathan's Mom was obviously in her element of cooking, wearing black Capri pants and a casual shirt. I thought a woman like Mrs Scott would be very much like my mother, and be less involved, let alone spend her afternoons cooking dinner, like the mother was supposed to. It was a few seconds later when she emerged with a big dish that she noticed me.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't even notice your friend," she said in a friendly tone.

"Hello," I said shyly.

"I know you…" she said trailing off thinking about where she recognised me from. I didn't know if I wanted her to remember so I didn't know if I should remind her or not.

"Brooke! You're Victoria's daughter right?" she said.

"Yep, that's me. "

"Well it's nice to see you again," she said with a smile.

"You too, Mrs Scott." I said relaxing a little.

"Oh please Sweetie, Mrs Scott is my mother in law. Karen is just fine."

I smiled, thinking how ridiculous I was being thinking she would throw me out of her house.

"So what are your kids plans for the evening?" she asked.

"We were just going to hang out for a bit then go catch a bite to eat," Nathan told her.

"Oh, don't go out! I made tacos! Stay for dinner, then you can go out," she said.

"Oh, I don't want to put you out, "I said politely. "And I wouldn't want to impose."

"Oh, you're not imposing! Don't be silly, and there's plenty of food, you know me, I always cook enough in case the whole town turns up," she said laughing.

Nathan looked over and made eye contact with me, silently asking me what I wanted to do and if I would be ok with staying.

"If you're sure?" I said answered straight to his Mom, feeling bad if I said no. I felt like she genuinely wanted me to join them, and wasn't just asking out of politeness.

"Perfect!" she said happily.

"Um, do you need any help?" I asked her.

"Oh, you two don't worry, everything is nearly done, Your Dad will be down in a minute, he's in the shower, and Izzie is outside setting the table. Go take your seats."

Karen ushered us out of the kitchen before we could protest and pushed us out of the patio door. Outside, obviously all the barbeque things had long been cleared away, and there was a beautiful wooden table set for dinner, with coloured night lights with candles, which Izzie was hanging up around the table.

She turned when she heard us come out and squealed when she saw me.

"Brooke!" she said squeezing me around the waist.

"Hey Izzie, " I said smiling at the little girl.

Nathan faked a cough. "I'm here too you know Iz," he said joking.

Izzie giggled and jumped into his arms, he swivelled her around before putting her down.

"Nate, can you light the candles for me?" she asked standing on the chair to reach the lantern hanging on a wire.

"Sure," he said going inside to get some matches. Just as he walked back into the kitchen, Nathan's Dad walked through the main garden doors.

"Careful Princess," he said, picking up the standing Izzie from the chair and placing her on the floor.

I immediately got a sentimental feeling in my stomach, hearing him call her princess, remembering all those years that that was the nickname that my own father had called me when we were still close.

"Hi, there," he said to me in a welcoming voice. "I'm Dan."

"Brooke," I said shaking his hand.

"I'm glad that you could join us, it's been a while since my wife had had to force someone to eat her Mexican food," he said smiling, before Karen walked up behind him hitting him with a tea towel as she placed a dish of taco mixture on the table. "Just kidding," he said laughing, "My wife is the best cook in the whole wide world."

"Yeah, yeah, that's spreading it a little thickly dear," she said rolling her eyes.

He grabbed her wrist and gave her a quick sweet kiss.

Nathan came out of the kitchen with the matches in one had a platter of toppings for the Taco's in the other hand. "Ewww, we have a guest!" he said.

They both pulled away laughing. "Sorry," she said to me. I just smiled in response. You could literally feel the love radiating off them. I couldn't remember the last time I had seen my own parents act this way. I barely even saw them in the same room just enjoying each other's company.

We all took our places at the table. Me and Nathan sat opposite his parents and Izzie sat the head of the table.

They passed around the dishes of food around the table and they all worked like they knew each other so well, like Nathan adding salad to his plate then picking out the cucumbers and exchanging them for the tomatoes on Izzie's plate, and Karen slipping some lettuce onto her husband's plate, muttering 'nice try'.

The conversation at the table wasn't anything special but you could tell this family was a genuine family, and they loved each other. They talked about everything and anything and they had all these inside jokes with each other. I hadn't experienced a meal like this in a long time. You could tell this family really meant a lot to each other, and they were there for each other. Throughout dinner they kept making the effort to involve me and include me in the conversation, and I was really glad that I had made the decision to stay. Thankfully, my parents didn't come into the topic at the table.

When dinner over, we all helped clear the table, and Karen wouldn't let us do anything else. She sent us back outside to where Izzie and her Dad were playing a card game on the wooden table.

"Feel like a walk?" Nathan asked me.

"Sure," I told him, "Just let me say good bye to your family first."

I walked through to the kitchen and said goodbye and thanked his mother, who welcomed me back anytime, then I said goodbye to Nathan's dad and sister. They were both happily playing their card game as we left.

Nathan led me through the private entrance to the beach from his back yard, and took my hand. It had just gone past sunset, and there was still an orange tint to the sky. It seemed like many people were out enjoying the coolest part of the day so far, as families, and people of all ages were spread out along the beach.

"Sorry for making you sit through a meal with my family," Nathan said apologetically.

"Don't be sorry, it was great!" I told him honestly. "I haven't had a family dinner like that in god knows how long."

"Ice cream?" Nathan asked, pointing to an ice cream cart in the centre of the beach.

"Sure."

Nathan bought a chocolate cone for himself and a strawberry cup for me, and we sat on the sand and joined the rest of the crowd to watch the rest of the sunset.

"I'm glad we're back together," Nathan said to me.

"Me too," I smiled back at him. The last week since we had been back together, we had spent it doing random things together, just getting to know each other better. We spent a lot of time at the park or the beach, or at the track and avoided public places, not because we were scared to run into anybody we knew but we were perfectly content in our own little world. He leaned in and I expected him to kiss me on the lips but I was surprised to feel him gently kiss my cheek. The quick kiss on my cheek meant a lot more to me than he could have realised. It was another time that reminded me that we were comfortable in our 'relationship' and we were harbouring real feelings for each other. In the week since we had been back together we had been more real to each other and if anything we had grown closer, since I think the idea of losing each other had hit us both.

I was just thinking about how we hadn't run into anybody we recognised yet when I saw Jake standing by the ice cream stand watching us. As soon as I made eye contact with him he looked away and began intently staring at the selections of ice cream flavours. I tensed, waiting for him to come over and confront us, but once he had his ice cream, he just turned around and walked the other way.

"Wasn't that Jake?" I asked Nathan.

"Where?" he said surprised.

I pointed out the retreating figure and Nathan mumbled, "maybe, not sure."

"But he saw us," I told him, searching for an explanation as to why he didn't react. I knew for a fact that if any of my friends saw us they wouldn't just walk away, and I knew Jake pretty well through the years and he wasn't the type to just walk away either.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"He looked right at me," I told him, getting stressed out.

"I wouldn't worry about it, if he saw us then he would have come over, so I guess we're safe," Nathan said.

"I guess," I said to Nathan even though my mind was still confused.

"Look at the sun," Nathan said to me and I looked away to look at where he was pointing.

X x x x x x

Nathan POV

"So I saw you guys on the beach tonight," Jake told me through the phone as I got ready for bed.

"Yeah I know, Brooke saw you, I had to distract her," I told him.

"You did know we were all hanging out tonight right?" he said.

"Yeah I know, but then I ended up going out with Brooke."

"Look, Nate, I know we made this plan and stuff, and don't get me wrong, I love how dedicated you are, but it's like a side game. There's no need for you to miss out on other stuff because you have to be with her, " Jake said. I thought about how it was actually the opposite and when I was them I felt like I was missing out being with her.

"I know, it's cool don't worry," I told him trying to sound like I was taking one for the team.

"I'm just saying dude, you're neglecting your friends to hang out with her."

"I know I guess I just got caught up in what will be the outcome," I told him, feeling bad for even saying it even if it was a lie.

"That's why I think we should end it now," he said.

"Huh?"

"Well the whole point was to date her for a bit then drop her, and you've dated her for a bit, and now it's time to drop her."

My stomach clenched at the thought of breaking up with Brooke. We had just gotten back together, and the thought of losing her again made me feel physically sick, however lame that made me sound.

"I'm just saying we have other important stuff to worry about this year, don't waste it all on her," he said, "sure it will be worth it when Lucas gets pissed, but now is a good time to do it."

"I think we can push it a little more," I said to Jake hoping he wouldn't push me to end it now.

"You do?" he asked.

"Sure I mean, it will be better when we can say it's been going on for longer right?"

"I guess you're right," he said, and I sighed in relief. "Just don't ditch us too much, we've barely seen you around."

"Sure man, so I'll see you tomorrow right?"

"Yeah, later Nate."

I switched off the phone and sighed as I collapsed on my bed wondering if and how much longer I could possibly prolong breaking up with Brooke and hurting her.

**Don't forget to tell me what you thought! My aim for this chapter was to show the contrast between both family lives and both mothers, and also to show it all isn't going to be an easy ride from now on, the plan will eve****ntually have to bite someone on the ass.**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24- A Revelation or two

Lucas POV

"Mmmn…Lucas…." Nikki said tugging at my shirt, as I created a trail of kisses down her neck. She kept pulling at my shirt and I finally gave in and sighed in annoyance as I pulled away from her to take it off and I threw it somewhere in the front seat. I looked down at Nikki who was lying against the leather interior, in her denim skirt and black bra, flushed, and breathing in uneven breaths. I kissed her hard and I felt her giggle in surprise through the kiss. I let one hand travel to her back and find her bra strap, and tried to unhook it in one fluid motion but it wouldn't give. I put my weight on my other hand frustrated, and tried to open it with my right hand, trying to feel along the hooks, trying to figure out how this thing worked. Nikki put both hands on my chest and pushed me back. The apprehension I was feeling must have shown on my face because she said, "You ok Lucas?"

"I'm fine, must just be a new bra or something, with a different opening thing." I said reassuring her and myself and leaning in to carry on where I left off, but she pushed me away again.

"Lucas, you've opened this bra like fifty times before," she said looking at me confused. She was referring to our weekly Wednesday afternoon appointments, which we had been keeping for about eight months. We'd been 'hanging out', with no strings attached. The perfect arrangement for both of us. Me, who didn't want to be tied down and Nikki who had a boyfriend, who was away at college.

"Are you sure you're ok?" she repeated, staring at me intently.

"I'm just not feeling it today," I told her honestly. She obviously thought it was her fault, because I had always been the enthusiastic one up to now. I wanted to be into it, I did, but I just wasn't feeling that turned on for once in my life.

"That's ok, maybe if we try it this way, " she said taking off her bra herself and throwing it forward to join my t-shirt, and pushing me back again the seat so I was now in a sitting position. She sat on my lap, straddling me, and pushed herself against me and began kissing me fiercely. I placed my hands on her waist, not knowing what else to do with them, and tried hard to be interested in the totally hot brunette in my car, but my mind (and body) were elsewhere. I realised a few minutes later when she was nibbling on my ear, and I was completely unaffected by her and my head was more interested in thinking about last night's episode of _Entourage, _that there was something wrong with this situation.

I pushed her back and gently lifted her off me and placed her on the seat beside me, "D'you mind if we cut this short?"

She looked at me anxiously, clearly worried that I wasn't into her anymore, and I was about to cast her aside. I then saw how she and others obviously saw me, and there was some truth to what Brooke and Haley had said.

I reached forward and picked up her bra and discarded sweater, and passed them to her. "Here, put these on." I said gently.

She put on the clothes without saying anything.

"It's not you Nikki; I was just somewhere else today," I said trying to make her feel better.

"So next Wednesday?" she said cautiously.

"Sure," I told her. Her face openly lit up and I felt a little better. Obviously the right thing to do would be to end this, and stop helping her cheat on her boyfriend, but for now I felt like rejection would be the last thing she needed to hear.

I drove back to school and got out the car then helped her out, passing over her shoes as she straightened out her top. Just then I saw a green convertible finish up parking in the only spot available, which happened to be opposite me. Haley got out of the driver's seat, returning to school after lunch, and was looking anywhere but at me. She had obviously seen me, and seen Nikki fixing her clothes, and had gotten the wrong idea. Well technically she had gotten the right idea, but she didn't know that we hadn't gone the whole way. I sighed as she walked away and toward the entrance to school.

I gave Nikki her backpack and picked up mine from the trunk, and walked back to school with her.

X x x x x x x x

(Nathan POV)

"Ok , ok I give!" I said holding up my hands in surrender.

"For real?" she asked, pausing on splashing me for a second.

"For real," I said nodding, "you win."

"Ok fine, "she said laughing and swimming over to me. The second she reappeared from under the water I began splashing her again. She yelped and dived under to get out of the line of water I was splashing her way. She swam around me and jumped onto my back.

"That was cheating!" she said using her hands to cover my eyes.

"There are no rules!" I said, "But this time I give and I mean it."

"How do I know if you mean that?"

"I guess you'll have to trust me."

Just then we heard a cough from the side of the pool. I felt her let go of my eyes and jump off my back, obviously embarrassed at being caught in a compromising position. My sisters swimming instructor Emmanuel was standing by the pool, with Izzie beside him, who was putting her goggles on and jumping into the pool.

"itees zee time for Isabel's sweeming lesson, so we need to use zee pool. You may join us if you'sweesh it?" he said.

I snorted, and let out at laugh, glad that I had outgrown all of my excruciating lessons with Emmanuel during my youth. Brooke elbowed me and said politely, "Thank you very much, but we were just about to get out."

I walked through the water holding onto Brooke's hand and pulled myself out of the water, helping her out after me. We walked over to the outdoor staircase leading to my room trying not to laugh. I opened out a towel from the basket and put it around her before taking one out for myself.

I opened the balcony doors, and went into my bedroom with Brooke following behind me. I turned around, about to tell her she can use the shower first, but when I saw her standing there all wet, wrapped in the fluffy white towel, she looked so vulnerable and adorable that I couldn't help but kiss her. I kissed her gently, and slow, taking my time. At first she was surprised by the random affection, but she quickly adjusted and kissed me back sweetly. She smoothly adjusted her towel so it stayed up and her hands weren't trapped inside anymore and placed one on my upper back and the other in my hair, pulling me even closer. The kiss quickly went from a soft chaste one, to one filled with passion and urgency, and we soon found ourselves on my bed. Brooke was lying on the bed, on her back and I was leaning half on my side, and half on top of her. Her hands were on my back, and the hand that's wasn't supporting myself was rubbing small circles on her hip through the towel. Our breathing was ragged and neither of us had said a word since we walked into the room.

Sure, me and Brooke had kissed in the past, but we hadn't gone this far so quickly before, mainly because we were mostly in public places. I found the edge of her towel and began slowly moving it up, my hand on her thigh. Brooke suddenly pushed me away and sat up, her breathing heavy.

"Are you ok?" I asked her.

"I'm just suddenly very aware of our lack of clothing," she said gesturing to her bikini, with the towel roughly around her.

"I'm sorry, I get carried away when I'm around you," I told her, thinking that I had pushed her too far too quickly. This was the longest I had ever been in a relationship without sex already, and up until now it hadn't even been a factor because I enjoyed her company so much, and I realised I had probably used sex so quickly with other girls before to break the ice, and to get over the awkwardness of having nothing in common.

"It's ok," she said getting off the bed, and reaching for her bag of clothes, slipping her shorts on and searching for her shirt in her bag. I could tell she wanted to say something else, and was contemplating whether to, in her head.

"Dee, what's wrong?" I asked her, pulling her hand to sit on the bed beside me.

"Nothing, I'm fine, "she said, attempting to smile, but I saw through the façade.

"I know you well enough to know, there's something else on your mind," I told her. Part of me was slightly scared that I had pushed her and now she was ready to break up with me.

"It's just….what we were doing just now, it was great and all, but ….I've never um….you know.." she said turning bright red and looking everywhere but at me.

"You're a virgin?" I asked her, wishing I had known before hand, and maybe I wouldn't have rushed into things. I don't know why but I had just assumed that she had had sex before. She was in the 'popular' circle and she had had boyfriends before. Now that I knew the truth I felt stupid for assuming otherwise. I was actually glad, that she hadn't, and I would hopefully be the first one to experience it with her. I felt a feeling of egotism knowing, that no other guy had been with her before.

"If that's what you kids are calling it these days," she said in a jokey voice, still clearly embarrassed. "And I don't know if I'm ready to rush into that so fast, and I'm scared I'm going to disappoint you," she said trailing off at the end, and her serious voice returning. How could she ever think that she was going to disappoint me?

I put my finger under her chin, and forced her to look at me. "Dee you could never disappoint me, why would you ever think that?"

"I just know, that usually your girlfriends are experienced and know what they're doing," she said, if it were possible turning even redder that before.

"Trust me, Davis, that's not a good thing," I said laughing softly, and she laughed as well.

"Look, we can take it as slow as you want, to get to that place where you're ready," I told her, completely truthfully, not disappointed in the slightest.

"Really?" she asked

"Really," I confirmed, giving her a quick peck on the lips.

I look of relief flew over her face, and she smiled at me.

"Just promise I'll be the first one you tell when you're in that place," I said laughing and squeezing her hand. She nodded and laughed too.

"Ok, so how about we go make fun of Emmanuel?" I suggested and she rolled her eyes, but followed me anyway.

X x x x x x x x x x

(Lucas POV)

"Luke, I don't expect you to listen to me talk all the time but can you at least try and nod every so often, or try and answer at least some of the questions I'm asking, just to try and humour me?" Skills said.

"Sorry, I'm just somewhere else," I said, putting down my lukewarm Coke can on my desk.

"We can see that," Chase said from sitting on my bed eating popcorn.

"You guys can I ask you something?"

"What's up?" Chase said, and Skills turned around from the PlayStation 3 game he was playing.

"Have you even been like you know with a girl and you feel you know.." I said not knowing how to phrase it.

"Dude, we have no idea what you're talking about." He said, taking a handful of popcorn from the bowl.

"Ok fine," I said sitting backwards on the wheelie chair. "I was with Nikki today."

"Nikki…." Skills said appreciatively, no doubt making a little dream sequence, containing a few x rated scenes up in his head.

"And normally it's all good, but today I just wasn't there," I said.

"You weren't there physically?" Chase asked with a smirk.

"No!" I said quickly, before they got any ideas, "that's not a problem! I wasn't there emotionally."

"Dude, you sound like a girl," Skills said.

I gave him a killer look and he said, "I'm just saying if I had Nikki McConnell all willing in front of me, the last thing I would be thinking about is my emotions."

"Ok, well what's changed since last week?" Chase said, actually trying to help me. "Maybe you're not attracted to her anymore?"

"Maybe you're gay?" Skills said with a mouthful of popcorn. He held up his hands protectively as I threw my Chemistry textbook, which was on my table next to me at him.

"Maybe you feel bad about Haley?" A voice said from the doorway. I looked up and saw Brooke leaning against the doorpost, drying her hair with a towel.

"How long have you been standing there?" I said, not wanting my 'problem' so spread to even more people.

"Long enough," she said, inviting herself into my room and the conversation, sitting next to Chase on the bed and helping herself to the popcorn.

"I'm just saying, in answer to Chase, all that's changed in the last week, is that Haley broke up with you for being an ass. And I say you feel bad about that, and maybe you care about Haley more than you realise?" she said, gloating, obviously pleased she was right, after her long lectures about Haley all week.

" I don't think that's it," I said not wanting to be proved wrong.

"Actually Luke, she may have a point," Chase said sitting up, like she was onto something.

"Maybe until you do right by Haley, you're never going to find another girl attractive again! It's just like that movie! " Skills said laughing.

"Skills, if you're not going to say anything helpful, then leave!" I said sternly.

"Ok, ok, I'll be helpful!" he said trying to muffle his laughter with a pillow.

In the back of my mind I knew Brooke and Chase were right, and I had feelings for Haley, that went further than I realised. All I knew was when I was with Nikki, it felt like I was betraying Haley somehow even though we weren't together anymore. Of course I have probably lost my chance with Haley, especially after she saw me today, showing the same behaviour than she accused me of. But when have I ever taken no for an answer before?

X x x x x x x

Jake POV

The doorbell rang, three times, after each other. Whoever was at the door was impatient. I got up with annoyance to answer it, leaving my burger on the counter.

Rachel burst through the door, the second I opened it.

"Please, come in," I said to myself rolling my eyes, before closing the door behind her. I walked into the kitchen, where Rachel had already gone.

"Oh my god! Oh my god!" she said pacing the kitchen. "I get it now! I can't believe I didn't see this before!"

"Rae, you're making me feel dizzy," I told her, sitting back down in my seat and carrying on with my snack.

"Sorry," she said, helping herself to a glass of water. I love how familiar she was in my house. "You will never believe what I just saw!"

"What? You passed the Mall and there was a sale?" I asked her. You never could tell with her.

"No!," she said like I was wasting her time. " My mother made me pick up my sister and her friend from the park, I mean who does she think I am? Her driver?" she said in irritation.

"Your point Rae?"

"Oh right, so then I saw Brooke Davis in the park, with Nathan!"

"Oh," I said calmly, realising she had stumbled upon our plan , and took it for something genuine.

"Just 'oh'? I don't think you get it! They were kissing! Her lips were on my man!"

I swallowed hard, hearing Rachel refer to Nathan as 'her man'.

"It's not what you think," I told her, "We have this little plan going on."

"A plan?" she said looking confused.

"A plan to get to Lucas," I said.

A look of realisation crossed her face and she grinned. "That's brilliant! Then what?" she said, sitting down in the seat opposite me, looking excited like I was telling her a bedtime story.

"Then we will find a way to embarrass her, or let Lucas find out, and then all hell will probably break loose," I said basking in her glory, as she was clearly impressed by the scheme.

"Get to Lucas through his snooty little cousin. It's perfect! So how long do I have to wait until it's all over?"

"Well, we haven't really decided on that yet, Nathan thinks the longer we wait out, the better the outcome will be."

"Well how long has it been so far?" she asked.

"Just over two months," I said, hearing how ridiculous that sounded.

She scoffed. "Seriously? You want to wait longer? I say do it now, actions been pretty dry lately."

"Yeah I guess we should wrap it up, "I said agreeing with her.

"Awesome, and then everything will work out, and Nathan won't have to worry about me feeling bad because he has to waste his time with little miss nice." She smiled and jumped up with a bounce in her step. "So I have a nail appointment, so I got to run, but I'll call you later to see how things are going. Maybe it's best if you don't tell anybody I know about this, it might just complicate things," she said.

"Sure," I said nodding. "And you just pretend like you don't know right?" I said knowing full well what Rachel was like, and why she might want me to stay quiet about her knowing.

"Of course," she said in a peppy voice.

"Rae…." I said with my eyebrows raised. "Promise me you won't do anything, without telling me first."

"Ok fine, " she said sighing, "Later Jakey." I normally hated it when people called me Jakey. It was either J or Jake, never Jakey. But somehow whenever Rachel said it, I liked the way it sounded.

She gave me a quick hug.

"Let me know if you want to hang out later," she said flying out the door just as quickly as coming in.

**A/N: Any thoughts? Any ideas on what will happen? REVIEW! By the way do you guys like Lucas? As in the character? Because I know he has a lot of faults but I wrote him to still be likable, is it that way ?or do you guys think he's just an ass?**

**Hopefully we will see more of Jake's story and also bring in Rachel's story as the story progresses, so I hope you like it! It's all part of my masterplan to get you guys to hate the 'baddies' at the start but love them by the end!, xxxxxx**

**-R**


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N- Sorry it's been a while….I got no reviews so I was living in hope…lol..that and I've been way busy!**

Chapter 25- the Game take two

"So my place is cool for tonight, my parents are in Rhode island visiting my grandparents for the weekend," Chase said with a mouthful of cafeteria fries.

"Awesome!" Skills said in a sing-voice. "I'll tell my Mom I'm crashing at yours for the night to study for the French finals."

"You seriously have to get over being scared of disappointing Mommy. I mean do you think she really believes we're studying for a French final on a Friday night after a game?" Chase said snorting.

"Sure she does, she trusts me," Skills said.

"You have issues dude," Chase said rolling his eyes. "Anyway, I asked my brother to get the beer, but he's going back to college this morning and didn't have time, so Lucas, you still cool to get the drinks?"

"Lucas?"

"Sorry what?" I said coming back to the conversation.

"Beer?" taking in my blank look Chase said, "for tonight?"

"Oh, right, yeah I'll get it," I told them.

I went back to where I had left off, staring at the outdoor cafeteria table by the fountain. Haley was sitting with her back to me with a group of her friends, but what was holding my attention was the hand that was casually leaning on the back of Haley's chair. The hand that belonged to Chris Keller, the pretentious ass on the swimming team. He didn't exactly fit in with her friends, she was clearly the reason he was there. I felt a pang of what I assumed was jealousy but I immediately pushed in down with denial.

"So did you talk to Jared about the music?" Skills asked me.

Haley got up from her seat, and collected her stuff, saying goodbye to her friends and walking over toward the library entrance.

"Umm, not yet but I will," I said getting up and collecting my own stuff, "I'll see you guys at practice," I said ignoring the boys calling after me.

I walked in the path that Haley had just gone in and walked into the library. It wasn't hard to spot her just getting settled at a work station. One of the chess club geeks was homing in on the station beside her, but I rushed forward and got there first, and sat down.

"Haley, hey." I said slightly out of breath.

"Lucas? What are you doing here?" she said looking shocked to see me.

"It is a public place, you know," I told her, trying to sound like I didn't just follow her in here.

"This is the library. Have you ever actually been in here?" she asked.

I thought back, trying to pin point the exact day but failed. "I had detention in here once." I said honestly. She rolled her eyes and opened her notebook.

"So, I noticed you and Keller at lunch today. Didn't think he was your type," I said trying my best to sound casual while I logged into the computer in front of me, in some attempt to make it look like she wasn't the only reason I was in here, and I actually had work to do.

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" she said in a raised voice, throwing her pen down on her page, and crossing her arms. "What you don't think I'm good enough to go out with someone in the swimming team?" she said in a defensive tone.

What I wanted to tell her was of course that isn't what I meant but instead what came out was, "Oh please, are they still going insisting they're on a 'team'? Trust me, being on the swimming team is nothing to be proud of."

"There is nothing wrong with the swimming team. There are other teams that hold equal importance to basketball you know!" she said getting flustered.

"Well there are other teams…" I said trailing off

"Not that I owe you any explanations what so ever, but me and Chris aren't together, we're just friends, we practically grew up together," she said going back to her work.

"Just friends?" I said snorting. It didn't look that way from where I was sitting. "I don't like him"

"And that would alter my opinion on him how…?"

"I'm just saying from where I was sitting it looked like he was after a little more than friendship."

"I cannot believe you! You have no right to comment on who I should hang out with! I don't comment on the sluttiness of your _friends_!" She said in a voice that sounded even louder due to the fact that we were in a practically silent library. We earned a loud 'Shhh' from Mrs Mulkis, the librarian, and Haley mumbled a sorry in her direction. I knew by 'friends' she was referring to when she had seen me with Nikki the other day, and I felt a sick at the confirmation that she definitely seen us.

"Yeah, about that, me and Nik—" I started, wanting to explain how she got the whole situation wrong.

"I don't want to know, you don't owe me any explanations, just like I don't owe you any," she interrupted. I wanted to carry on explaining but she got this final look on her face, and started reading a textbook. We sat in silence for a few minutes, each carrying on with our 'work' and in my case not knowing what to say. Considering she has been staring at the same page for five minutes, I doubted she was actually reading her textbook, but was more focused on my presence beside her.

"What are you actually doing here Lucas? What do you want?" she finally said in an exasperated tone.

"I'm really sorry for everything that's happened the last couple of weeks, if I could erase it all I would."

"That's the whole point Lucas, you can't erase it. And it's not as easy for me just to say let's go back to how things were," she said. I could sense the pain I had caused her in her voice, and I instantly felt terrible. "I mean we're not even friends—"

"Let's just be friends" I said instantly without hesitating. I knew from hurting her like I did, she wouldn't be able to just take me back, she had to be able to trust be again. Being friends was better than having no contact with her whatsoever, and I was fairly confident, that I could win her over in time.

"Friends?" she said thinking I was joking, then seeing the look on my face, the amusement fell out of her voice, "Oh god, you're serious!" she said sighing, as if I came up with a ridiculous idea that was going to be mentally tiring for her.

"Why on earth would you want to be friends? We weren't friends before?"

"So, let's be friends now," I said shrugging.

"How exactly is that going to work? We don't exactly travel in the same circles," she said, talking about the fact that my friends tended to all be in the basketball club, and the girls were mostly cheerleaders, and her friends, didn't belong to any teams and generally got good grades. It was a big surprise to everyone when we first started going out, since people generally didn't venture outside their social circle.

An image of Chris popped up in my head and I was even more certain I wanted to be her friend now.

"Who says we can't be friends because of what everybody else thinks?" I said, "Look, how about you come down to the game against NCP tonight?"

I saw the hesitation in her eyes.

"As friends… I need support from friends." I finished.

"You do have your own personal cheerleaders," she said rolling her eyes, but I could tell she was joking. "Just friends. Because if this is just some ploy to get back together with me, I'm telling you now it's not going to work." A serious tone, entered back into her voice.

"Purely platonic," I said lying. I was pretty sure I could change her mind.

"I'll think about it," she finally said.

That was good enough for me. I got up from the chair, and collected my things happy that she was at least contemplating coming.

"So I'll see you tonight," I said.

"_Maybe_ see me tonight," she said correcting me as I was leaving. She twisted her hair up holding it in place with her pencil, put her reading glasses on and restarted properly, focusing her attention to her work fully now. Right here in this moment, she was sexier to me than Nikki ever was, and she didn'teven know she was doing it.

X x x x x x x x

Brooke POV

"I can't wait!" Peyton squeaked out in excitement as I drove into an empty space at NCP

"I can tell," I told her, switching off Lucas's car and getting out.

Andrea and Alex drove into the space next to us in Alex's car and came to join us. The boys had to arrive at the game in the school bus, as it was tradition for away games, so we had to come over in separate car's to be able to drive us all to the after party, presuming we would win. NCP was hosting this game, since we had the last attempt, when the fire alarm had gone off.

The Tree Hill High bus stopped at the entrance to let the players off, and as Lucas came out, I saw him give his car a once over, checking to make sure I hadn't done any damage in the twenty minute ride over here. I rolled my eyes and joined the rest of the girls who seemed to have started toward the entrance too. Even though I had been to NCP for many games and events before, none of them had been while Nathan had been here, and I found it hard to imagine him here, being his school. The boys had gone through the outdoor entrance to one of the locker rooms and we had walked over to their now silent picnic lunch area, which during the day was probably bursting with students. We sat down to wait for their coordinator to direct us to an empty classroom to wait in before the game. The twelve of us spread ourselves across three picnic tables, and my thoughts drifted to whether Nathan had ever sat here.

Back when the first game had taken place, I was rooting for Tree Hill High to win, but now I wasn't so sure whose banner I would be waving. Sure I wanted my school to win, and come out on top, and show Jake and the others exactly where they could stick it, but I didn't want my boyfriend to lose either.

"Figures they'd choose the losers table," a voice said behind us. I turned around and saw Rachel, and the rest of our cheerleaders, all dressed in their standard red and white uniforms, ready for the game. Rachel had a glittery cobra tattoo wrapped around her left leg, drawing attention to her, and making her stand out amongst the group.

"Rachel!" Peyton said in an overly happy tone, "I'd say it's nice to see you but it's really not," she finished shrugging.

Rachel didn't react and merely just rolled her eyes in irritation. She scanned our team, until her gaze landed on me. I got an uneasy feeling in my stomach from the way she was looking me up and down.

"Nice ribbon," she said smirking. I resisted touching the blue ribbon I had woven into my hair to show team spirit. "Last time I had a ribbon in my hair I was like five." Rachel laughed and the rest of her team quickly followed.

"Oh please, you had a white ribbon in your hair at your cousins wedding last month!" Peyton said, defending me. Rachel's cousin was friends with Peyton's sister, so her family was invited to the wedding. Rachel ignored her, and acted as it she didn't hear the comment and kept her attention trained on me.

"So tell me, how's that scrummy cousin of yours?" she said.

"Last I saw him he was with his girlfriend, I'll tell him you said hi though," I said. Her smirk fell for a nanosecond before resurfacing. I got great satisfaction in making sure Rachel knew that Lucas wasn't sitting around mourning their relationship, even after all this time, like she probably thought he was. Technically he wasn't with Haley at the moment, or he didn't have a girlfriend, but she didn't know that.

"Whatever," she said as if she wasn't bothered. "Anyway we better go rehearse our half time show, so the audience know what a real cheerleading squad look like," Rachel said before flipping around and heading toward the school building.

"Yeah? Well we don't need to rehearse," Peyton said to her retreating figure, a few seconds later as a comeback, clearly trying to have some part in the conversation.

Rachel turned around, and ignored Peyton again. "Later Davis," she said before actually leaving this time.

Well that was a first, I thought as I watched their entire team disappear from view. Getting into mini disputes with the NCP lot wasn't anything knew, but Rachel rarely singled me out. It was generally a group attack, or she and Peyton normally took a leading role. I didn't really like to normally be in the centre of things, so I pretty much kept out of it, unless Peyton needed me. So for Rachel to completely ignore Peyton, and focus on me told me something was up.

"What the hell was that?" Peyton said fuming.

"There's nothing wrong with your ribbon B," Andrea said to me.

"Not that! She completely acted like I wasn't here!" Peyton said pacing. She clearly was more concerned in the fact that she wasn't in the centre of a fight with NCP.

"Calm down Peyton, you'll get your chance to show them up inside," I told her laughing at her reaction, and putting my arm around her. Peyton blew her fringe out of her eyes, and started walking off toward the gym, where the NCP cheerleaders already were. "Let's go rehearse," she said.

"I thought you said we didn't need to, and plus we have like over two hours until the actual game," Alex said looking at the time on her cell. She looked up and saw the determined look on Peyton's face. We all knew once Peyton made up her mind about something it was hard to change it. "Which we could use for stretching," she finished.

"Good save," Andrea told her. I picked up my duffel bag as well as Peyton's and we all went inside.

X x x x x x x x

Nathan POV

"Ok, that's good boys, grab a drink, then head inside, to take a little break before the game, the Tree Hill High boys are already here," Coach Durham said.

I stopped running laps around the gym, a tradition of Whitey, to wake us up before the game. We started heading to the bleachers, where the cheerleaders had just walked in with jugs of water.

I took a long sip out of my water bottle and when I looked down I saw Rachel heading over to me. She had a glittery snake temporary tattoo curling up her leg, drawing my eyes to her tanned lags, exposed by her skirt that was definitely shorter than the custom made length the rest the girls seemed to be wearing, even though I didn't want to look.

Her smile showed me that she had seen me looking. "Nice tattoo," I said as she walked up.

"Thanks, I thought I'd represent the NCP Cobra's somehow," she said shrugging. "Top up?" she asked me, gesturing to my water bottle.

"Sure, "I said opening the lid to the sports bottle and holding it while she filled it up with water from her jug. When she finished she put her hand on my arm.

"So I was thinking I haven't seen you around lately. I thought when you moved back we would be able to catch up."

"Yeah, I'm sorry I've been pretty busy," I told her.

"I'm sure you have," she said knowingly.

"Excuse me?" I asked her.

"I just mean, adjusting to a new town even though you used to live here, and catching up with everything."

"Oh sure," I said. I tactfully removed her hand from my arm, but she held it instead.

"I really missed you while you've been away," she said sighing.

Before me and Rachel had gotten together when she was going out with Lucas, we had been friends, and to be truthful I had missed her company too. But the Rachel I knew used to wonder around in baseball t-shirts and jean shorts, and didn't really care about what people thought of her. She had become a completely different person since I'd been gone.

She took a step toward me and I cautiously took a step back. "Look Rach, I don't know if that's the right thing for us at the moment," I told her pointing between the two of us. Her smile faltered for a few seconds, before she caught a glance at the Tree Hill High cheerleaders walking in from outside at the same time as the their basketball team came in from the door leading to the second locker room.

"Oh!" she said, "I gotcha!" she said.

"You do?" I asked totally confused on what exactly she understood.

"I'll catch you later," she said winking before she pulled me into a hug that lasted a few seconds, sloshing the water in the jug around a bit, before she walked away from me and joined the rest of her squad leaving me even more confused than before.

I looked over to the other cheerleading squad, who had met the team, who still weren't dressed halfway through the gym. My eye caught Brooke's, who was watching Rachel's retreating form with a strange look on her face. I thought about how the situation probably looked from outside and realised Brooke had probably just seen Rachel being extra friendly, then give me a hug. Brooke's frown turned into a smile and she rolled her eyes in Rachels's direction. I let out a relieved breath that I wouldn't have to go and explain, and Brooke turned her attention back onto the conversation between Lucas and Chase, laughing just as they did even though she probably hadn't caught any of the conversation.

The guy I knew as Felix joined the group with another guy with him. I knew neither of them were actually in the team, but had probably tagged along for support. I watched in annoyance as Felix walked over to the small group Brooke was standing in and clapped Lucas on the back as if they were friends, and Lucas automatically included him in the conversation as he went and stood beside Brooke, giving him the acceptance that I knew I would never get. Even if Lucas did accept me, I knew I would never get the approval from her family that Felix would.

X x x x x x x

Lucas POV

Every member of the NCP team seemed to be on the court waiting for the game to begin except for Nathan. I scanned the gym until I found him trying to make his way over but failing miserably because Rachel kept getting in his way. She was clearly vying for his attention as she followed him around the court trying to get him to react to her. As far as I was concerned, good luck to him. I was glad I didn't have to deal with her anymore. The official blew his whistle and Nathan walked onto the court, and Rachel went back to her side.

"Ok boys we want a nice clean game," the official told us, holding the ball in between me and Jake, the two captains. The crowd was silent anticipating the game that was seconds away from starting. Out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the doors to the entrances open and Haley walk in with two girls beside her. I found myself unable to stop myself smiling at the fact she had decided to come, showing me the first step toward becoming friends was well on its way.

The official blew his whistle, bringing me back to the game and I jumped up to hit the ball. I hit the ball as hard as I could toward our side, and the game flew into motion. The crowd went wild and started cheering as our team worked around the ball and I made our first basket, without any trouble from the opposing team.

I looked over to the bleachers to spot Haley, which wasn't very hard since she hadn't taken her seat yet, and she smiled at me, making me feel a rush of pride. I felt the adrenaline rush through me as I rushed to get the ball, feeling the need to show her the best I could play.

X x x x x x

Brooke POV

The whistle was blown for halftime and I winced at the scoreboard. Sure part of me wanted NCP to lose but not by this painful amount. North Carolina Prep were twenty one points behind and it didn't look like that was going to change anytime soon. Lucas was on a role for some reason, and was making baskets left right and centre.

All around me I could hear shrieks of excitement from the Tree Hill High supporters as the players broke off and came over to the stands for halftime. I saw Nathan walk through the double doors out of the gym, with a frustrated look on his face.

"I'm just going to the bathroom, I'll be back in a sec," I told Peyton.

"'Kay, be quick, NCP are about to do their halftime show, then it's us."

I nodded and walked out the doors, looking around the empty corridors for any sign of where Nathan might have gone. I was just about to give up on the account that I didn't know the school very well, and knew no idea where I was when a hand reached out and pulled me into a hallway branching off from the one I was in. I relaxed when I saw the culprit.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey," Nathan said back to me.

"So uh, I can't go out with you anymore," I said in a ditzy voice.

"Oh really? Why's that?" Nathan said, knowing full well I was joking from my tone.

"Because I don't go out with losers," I said like it was obvious. Nathan just laughed softly.

"So I know I haven't seen you play since you were like fifteen but I really thought you were better than that," I said kidding around.

"Yeah, I don't know why I'm just not that focused today," he said.

"Really? Because now isn't really the time to have other things on your mind," I said smiling. "It's the NCP-THH game! It's the event of the year!" I said adopting my ditzy cheerleader voice again.

"I don't know maybe I just need some motivation…" his voice trailing off.

"Oh really?" I said. "Would this help?" I gave him a hug that lasted less than a second then let go.

"Mnnn… I don't think so," he said like he was seriously thinking about it.

"What about this?" I said before kissing him on the cheek, teasing him.

"I think this would work better," he said gently pushing me up against the lockers and kissing me on the lips.

"Someone could see" I mumbled through his lips, referring to the fact that we were standing at a corner that could be seen from several angles.

"Let them," he mumbled back.

"Maybe we should head back?" I said, not wanting to actually go.

"No way, you're on my turf now," he said placing slow kisses on my neck and nibbling on my ear as I tried not to concentrate on how incredibly hot that sounded.

My mind went blank, as all my thoughts went to mush.

"Hey Nate?"

"Mnn.."

"I was thinking what we talked about the other week," I said trying to string together a coherent sentence.

"We talk about a lot of things babe," he said coming up for air and looking me in the eyes, but he still held me in place.

"I think I'm ready," I said taking a deep breath, and saying the thing that I had been thinking about the last couple of days.

"Ready for what?" he said, totally clueless. "You wanna go back inside?" he said holding my hand and pulling me away from the lockers.

"No, I mean I'm ready for us to take that next step. Tonight." I said stopping him in his tracks. I looked him straight in the eye, and this time I wasn't embarrassed talking about it.

I watched his face change as he picked up on what I said. It went from neutral to confused to a small smile to an even bigger smile.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "We don't have to rush into anything."

"I love you for asking, but I'm sure, I've never been more sure about anything in my whole life," I said taking a step closer to him and putting my arms around his neck.

"I love you," he said softly.

"I love you too," I said honestly. A few weeks ago I hadn't been so sure that I was ready to sleep with Nathan, but if possible I've fallen even more in love with him in the last few weeks, and I'm even starting to ignore the part about how our friends don't get on, and how my family doesn't like his family, and the issue with going to Yale, and moving to a place where it was just me and him in our own bubble, and it was him I wanted. I was half aware of hearing the beginning beats of the latest Black eyes peas song and I knew the halftime show was starting, and NCP had started.

I was about to head back inside but heard a strange sound from somewhere behind me that sounded like a sneeze.

"Did you hear that?" I asked, looking around, but only seeing an empty hallway.

"Hear what?" Nathan said, looking to see where I was.

"Never mind," I said putting it down to my own paranoia of being out in the open with Nathan.

" We should go back before somebody starts to miss us. But you know my offer doesn't stand if you lose, because like I said, I don't date losers," I said joking again, and pecking him on the lips, before I turned around and walked away, back toward the gym knowing that I was supposed to perform any minute now.

"I think I just got motivated," I heard him said as I walked away.

X x x x x x

BPOV

The second half of the game went by like a blur. Nathan started playing like himself again, and started making just as many baskets as Lucas, until NCP were only a three points away. The crowd was engrossed in the game, yelling and cheering for their team, knowing it was going to be close knowing there was only two minutes left on the clock. At least losing by two or three points wasn't too bad, I thought as Nathan made another basket.

Jake passed the ball to another player on the NCP team, but Chase intercepted it and threw it over to Lucas, but before he could catch it Nathan flew in between and caught it himself, throwing the ball to Julian while he was still in mid air. Julian rushed forward and made the basket, earning a loud cheer from the crowd. I kept one eye on the tense game, and one on the clock. Without even looking at him I tell Lucas was annoyed NCP had caught up so fast.

The clock was eight seconds away and began beeping for the countdown. Nathan was about half the court away, but threw the ball toward the basket in a wild attempt to make one last point. The buzzer sounded while the ball was in the air and everybody in the now silent gym held their breath.

X x x x x x x

Brooke POV

"Oh common Luke! At least you didn't lose!" I said unable to stop myself from being happy for Nathan's victory.

"We drew B! That's even worse than losing!" he said in an annoyed voice.

I rolled my eyes, and grinned at seeing all of Nathan's team mates, congratulating him from the side of the court.

"Why are you so happy anyway," he asked.

"I'm just happy we didn't lose," I said half truthfully. It was better for both my boys to win than only one of them.

Just then a loud whistle blew and everyone in the quietened down to hear what the Principal of NCP had to say.

"Congratulations to both schools for tonight's game, I'm very happy to see the skill and high levels of sportsmanship than I saw today," he said and everybody clapped. "Now if everybody could make their way out through the outdoor exits, that would be appreciated, and have a good night. If I could just ask that the two teams tonight stay behind for a word with Mr Lorenzo."

The students and parents in the stand started making their way out and Larko went to the centre of the gym. The boys slowly also started heading over, with us following behind. The two schools automatically split into two groups standing either side of Larko.

"Evenin' kids. Good job on not causing any unnecessary shenanigans tonight," he said. "Now I'm going to make a deal with you. I know you kids are all hosting house parties for your fellow peers planned for tonight, filled with substances that are not appropriate, let alone legal for your age group."

"Of course not sir!" Someone on our team said out.

"I wasn't born yesterday kids!" he said, "Here's the deal, I will be willing to turn a blind eye."

Everybody gasped clearly surprised at his announcement. We had never heard anything like this before from Larko.

"If—"He started. There it was: the catch. "If you combine the two parties into in to one joint party with both schools having a good time together."

The response he got was a loud roar of two schools protesting.

"No way!" I head Lucas yell from beside me. "That's blackmail!"

"Ok fine, have it your way," Larko said, "But then I'm afraid I won't be able to forget that you have after parties planned."

"You can't prove we were planning to do anything tonight!" Jake said.

"You're right, I can't. But I can do random car checks." I could feel everyone go tense and silent at the same time.

"Can we have a minute?" Lucas asked.

"I second that," Nathan said. The first thing they had agreed in, in years.

"Please," Larko said taking a step back to give us some 'space'. The two schools turned into their own mini groups.

"How many of us have cars here?" Lucas said in a strategic way right away, taking the leadership role. "We came over in the bus."

"I have your car, and Alex has hers," I said.

"I have mine too," Felix said.

"Ok, I have like four cases of beer in my boot," Lucas said.

"What!" I said, annoyed at how I was driving around a car filled with alcohol all day without knowing it.

"We needed it for tonight B! Now isn't the time!" he said to me. I left the subject alone, knowing he was right, and I would have a go at him later.

"I also put like five bottles of vodka in my sports bag in Alex's car," Andy said.

Alex hit Andy in the chest but didn't say anything.

"Can we have a word?" We all turned around to find Jake and Nathan standing at the edge of our group.

Lucas, Chase and Skills broke away and went to join them, forming a third group between the two schools.

"So we have some _stuff_ in our cars," Jake said vaguely but we all knew what _stuff_ he was talking about. "_Stuff_ that we can't get caught with."

"Us too," Skills said. I knew there was no way we could get away with Larko doing any of the car searches. For one it was actually illegal to have the alcohol since none of us were over 21, and I knew Dad would freak out.

"As much as I hate to say it—"Lucas said, clearly thinking the same thing I was.

"Yeah, I know," Nathan said.

"Ready?" Larko said.

Everyone turned to face him.

"We think it would be fun to have a joint party, "Lucas said.

"Oh do you now? That's strange," Larko said, walking out of the gym calling out on his way out, "I will check if you did combine the parties kids."

After he left everyone was in uproar, but after a few minutes everyone realised arguing wasn't going to change anything.

"So how bout we do it tomorrow night, to change the venue's and let everyone know," Nathan said.

Lucas looked back at us to confirm then said, "That's fine."

"So where should we…..?" Peyton said trailing off.

Everyone was quiet waiting for someone to come up with an idea.

"My place is cool, "Nathan said. "My parents are going back to New York this weekend for work."

"Ok, so that's settled," Lucas said, clearly pissed that Nathan would be hosting the party.

"I'll tweet the new plans," Peyton said taking out her phone, about to contact most of our class.

Everyone slowly started leaving in dribs and drabs, and I could see Nathan loitering near the entrance.

"Hey, I'm going to get a ride with Felix, that's cool right?" Peyton said.

"Sure, I'm going with Lucas," I told her. She smiled and flounced over to where Felix's car was.

I walked over to where Lucas and Skills were standing with Andrea and Lauren.

"Hey, I'm going to crash at Peyton's tonight," I told Lucas.

"Girls and sleepovers," he said rolling his eyes at Skills who grinned.

"Your picturing it aren't you?" I said.

"uh huh," Skills said, and I whacked him on the arm.

"I'll see you tomorrow," I told Lucas before giving him a quick hug and disappearing from sight, to wait for everyone to drive out before taking a deep breath before heading over to Nathan's car where he was waiting for me.

X x x x x

**A/N: how did you like reading from Lucas's POV and reading about his storyline with Haley? For some reason I like writing from him more than N and B! I think that's the first proper Lucas POV in a while, but now the story goes on, his POV will be a bit more frequent. What did you think of his interaction with Haley in the library?**

**Don't be annoyed the teams drew! I promise one team will come out on top very soon to end the whole 'battle' once and for all, but for the story to work, they had to draw right now!**

**Any theories on anything yet?**

**I was really upset to get no reviews, and I still wrote this one which is double the length of a usual chapter….it's 13 pages in word, so it would be really nice to hear back from you!**

**-Love always, B**


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: Now I really love this chapter for a few reasons, one of them being it introduces a new couple, which you may have had inklings about in the past, they are actually the most complex couple, and they are my favourite, and after this chapter will feature a lot, so let me know if you like them. (I won't say who yet, you have to read on)**

**Also the scene between Nathan and Brooke was really hard for me to write because I've never written anything like that before. I really hope I managed to capture the emotion between them.**

Chapter 26- Drama!

_**-BaSkEtBaLl-DuDe-01 is now online-**_

_**Haley_TutorGirl says:**__ Before you say it, I was planning to come anyway, it had nothing do to with you._

**BaSkEtBaLl-DuDe-01 says**_**: **__Sure you were. Whatever you need to believe hun…_

_**Haley_TutorGirl says: **__I really was! You asking me to come was just a coincidence!_

**BaSkEtBaLl-DuDe-01 says: **_So does this mean we're friends?_

…**.BaSkEtBaLl-DuDe-01 sent Haley_TutorGirl a NUDGE….**

_**-Haley_TutorGirl is offline-**_

_**X x x x x x x x x **_

Brooke POV

"Are you sure your parents aren't home?" I whispered as Nathan let us into his house.

"Yes," he said in a normal voice, which sounded way too loud for the silent house we just walked into, "I saw them leave for New York just before I left for the game, nobody's home, I promise."

Nathan began switching the lights on in the hallway and around the house, and I stood there awkwardly clutching my overnight bag, not knowing quite what to do with myself. Normally I felt at ease with Nathan, and I still did, I just felt nervous at the thought of what we were about to do, and what exactly I was supposed to do, and if there was a specific way that this 'worked'.

"So, uh do you want to watch a movie or something?" Nathan asked.

I smiled at his attempt to make me feel more comfortable, and felt all my apprehension wash away.

"Sure," I said, putting my bag down in the hall, and taking off my jacket.

"Why don't you go ahead into the living room and choose a movie, and I'll go get us a snack," he said.

X x x x x x x x x

Nathan POV

"Sure," Brooke said, visibly relaxing. I wanted her to feel completely comfortable and relaxed about tonight. Believe it or not I actually felt pretty nervous myself. Sure I had slept with other girls before, but this time with Brooke it actually meant something. I knew how much this all meant to her, it meant a lot to me that she cared about me enough to want to do this, and I wanted to give her the best first experience I could. Part of me wished I had waited for her myself instead of losing my virginity when I was fifteen in an empty bedroom at Taylor James' annual house party.

After grabbing two bowls of rocky road ice cream, and chocolate chip cookies I headed back to the living room to find Brooke already curled up on the couch. I pulled a blanket out of the wooden chest and brought it over with me.

"So I've narrowed it down to the Notebook or the Notebook? Brooke said smirking.

"You're such a girl!" I said rolling my eyes, but taking the case from her, and inserting the disc into the player anyway.

"Last time I checked, yeah," she said giggling and putting a big mouthful of ice cream in her mouth. I took a quick look at her and took in the image of her sprawled out on my couch in her cheerleading uniform. The blanket I had passed to her, the one I had been using ever since I was a kid was thrown over her. I swallowed and tried to keep my mind on the task at hand. The opening music began playing and I picked up my bowl of ice cream and sat on the armchair, not wanting to make her feel like I was invading her space.

"What're you doing all the way over there?" she asked, "Come here!"

I got up and sat beside her, glad that she had made the move to show me she was feeling comfortable. She pulled me closer and pulled my arm around her and leant against my chest then rearranged the blanket to it was over me too.

The movie was going by pretty quickly, and I have to admit as far as chick flicks go, it wasn't so bad. Brooke was now completely still as she was cuddled into me absorbed into the film. I had to check a couple of times to make sure she was actually awake. We were nearing the end and had gotten just gotten to the bit where Allie left his house to go back home, when the TV, and all the lights turned off in one quick sweep.

"No!" Brooke whined, "Now we won't get to see the end!"

"I'm sure you've seen it enough times to know what happens," I told her, making fun of her even though I wanted to see what happened myself.

"I know, but it's not the same!"

I got up from the couch, reluctantly untangling myself from Brooke, and headed over to the window.

"It looks like the whole street is out," I said looking at the pitch black that was our road.

"How long until it comes back on?" she asked, as I could see her shadow getting up and stretching.

"I have no idea," I told her, "It's ok though," I said feeling my way over to the fire place and trying to locate the matches. Before long the room was illuminated in a soft orange glow. Brooke crouched down on the brown fluffy rug in front of the fire, and sat down next to me. Without a word she gently stroked my cheek, and before I could say anything I felt her soft lips on mine. I kissed her back gently but still let her take the lead. We slowly pulled apart, not by choice but because we both needed to breathe.

"Are you sure you want to do this? We don't have to you know," I said making complete sure that this was what she wanted, and also because once I kissed her again I knew I would find it hard to stop.

"Nate, I love you for asking I do, but I'm one hundred per cent sure," she said giving me a soft smile. That was all the assurance I needed to kiss her again. This time, the kiss was a little more urgent on both of our parts. I pulled away not wanting to go too fast, we had all night and I didn't want us to rush this. I slowly reached up and pulled at the navy blue ribbon tied in her hair, and we both watched as is came undone and slowly fell to the floor. Our eyes connected and we both shared in the knowledge of knowing it was us in this moment, and nobody else, not Lucas, or Jake, or either of our parents. We were in our own little world in this room.

The glow radiating from the fire reflected in her face, and she looked unbelievable, combined with the glow coming in from the moonlight. For a brief moment I considered moving us upstairs to my bedroom but pushed the idea to the side, not wanting to kill the mood, and knowing we were both content where we were. This time, I took control and kissed her, whilst letting my hands get buried in her hair. Our lips connected and I could've sworn I felt an electric current race through me. I took in every little detail about her as I continued to kiss her. The kiss was urgent and passionate as well as caring and full of love. She tasted unbelievable, with the essence of chocolate still lingering in her mouth. Her lips were soft, yet firm against mine as she began to kiss me back. I moved one of my hands down, cupping her delicate face in my palm as I lost myself in the kiss. The moment was far better than I ever could've imagined, and I'd imagined this moment plenty of times. A soft groan escaped her lips as her tongue lightly traced the seam of my own. I opened my mouth, letting our tongues grapple with one another as I raised myself up on my knees to lean over her, pressing our chests together. Her hands wove themselves into my hair as she pulled me down. It was crazy, I felt like I couldn't get close enough to her, no matter how hard I tried. The layers of clothes between us felt like a huge wall keeping us apart.

Like she could read my mind, she pushed at the bottom of my t-shirt. I took the hint and pulled it off, careful not to leave it near the fire, and she pulled me closer once more. As she kissed me her fingers traced the tribal tattoo on my chest that I had gotten in New York as a way to defy my parents, and I could feel the power she had over me through her touch, apower nobody had ever held over me before. And in that instant I knew I would do anything for her. Instead of that thought scaring me, it only made me want her more.

I put my hands at the edge of her cheerleading top, and began to cautiously edge it upwards. I obviously wasn't going fast enough because Brooke reached up and pulled it off herself, revealing her dark purple bra. We both stopped in out paths knowing, this was as far as we had gone before, and once we went further, we were would make a huge advancement in our relationship.

"I love you," we both breathed out at the exact same time.

X x x x x x x

Jake POV

"Hey Jakey," Rachel said as she let herself in through my ground floor bedroom window. She had changed from her cheerleading uniform into a pair of soft baby blue shorts and a matching zip up hoodie. Even though she could have easily used the front door, which would have been less work, whenever there was someone else in the house and Rachel felt like dropping in at random hours she would use my window. One of the perks of having the only bedroom downstairs was nobody could hear another person in my room.

"Isn't it past your bed time?" I joked with her, from my spot on my bed.

"Yep, I thought I could have my bedtime here," she said in a slow seductive voice.

I put my laptop down on the table beside the bed, not surprised at all by her behaviour.

"It's been a while, since we shared a 'bedtime'" I said referring to the fact that we hadn't randomly had sex since Nathan had come back into town.

Rachel and me were complicated. Our relationship consisted of being very good friends, best friends in fact, who would randomly sleep together. But it never meant anything and once we were done, we went back to just being 'friends', to my disappointment. The last year I had found myself having romantic feelings for Rachel, but not having expressed any of them to her, since it was clear she just saw us as 'sex buddies'. As much as it annoyed the hell out of me to see her flirt with other guys, and be with other guys, I knew being her friend as well made me different to the other guys that she used her power on.

Since Nathan had come back into town she had turned all her efforts into trying to be his girlfriend, which was completely out of character for her, since she wasn't the relationship type. Sure it bugged me to see her obsessed with my cousin, but I couldn't very well complain, considering she was technically his first.

"Oh come on, I've been busy!" she said jumping onto my bed.

"Whatever," I said like I wasn't bothered, not wanting her to pick up that I had noticed her lack of presence in my bedroom.

"Well if you're going to be like that," she said getting up and walking back to the window. I knew as well as she did that she wasn't going to leave, but I played her little game, of giving her the attention she wanted.

"Rae, don't go," I said getting up and holding onto her waist from behind her.

She turned around in her track and unzipped her tracksuit jacket, throwing it on my chair.

"I missed you," she said, kissing me hard before pushing me onto my bed behind me.

X x x x x x

Brooke POV

I walked up my driveway as slowly as I could, not wanting to enter the real world yet. I'm sure the security at their booth by the gate probably thought I was crazy, because I had a permanent smile stuck on my face.

Last night was indescribable, and was beyond what I had imaged it to be. We had moved up to Nathan's bedroom at some point in the night, and we had woken up this morning in each other's arms. We spent most of the morning in bed, neither one of us wanting to leave the haven we had created for ourselves. Somewhere around eleven I realised I would have to leave before Luke called Peyton to find out where I was and considering I didn't ask her to cover for me I doubted that conversation would go very well. After persuading Nathan to give me back my clothes, which he had hidden in an attempt to get me to stay, he had driven me home.

I let myself into the house, and was heading up to my bedroom when I heard my Mom call me from the kitchen.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she said with a stern tone and her hands on her hips. My Dad was sitting at the table. It was rare for him to be home at this time, which told me something was up.

"I spent the night at Peyton's, it was a late game," I said in a timid voice, completely freaking out on the inside. I doubt she would have called Peyton to see where I was, or if she even noticed I wasn't in my room. Maybe Peyton had called here, creating confusion to my whereabouts.

"Not that!" she said "I'm talking about that Scott boy!" she all but yelled.

I froze at her words, my mind too panicked to figure out what to say. Oh my god. This was really it. It was really over. I knew we'd get found out at some point but this was the moment.

"Marcy Tanner saw the two of you walking together on the street last week!" I knew I couldn't act as though it was someone else, because Marcy was integrated into the social scene well enough to know the two children of the Davis's and Scott's. "Last week I ran into Serena at the club and she mentioned she saw the two of you together too. I didn't mention it because I was certain she was mistaken but now I'm not so sure!"

"We were just-" I started to explain.

"Do you have any idea how this looks? How it would look if the Taggaro's found out? You would jeopardise everything!"

"I was just talking—"

"I don't care what you were doing! You are supposed to be with Felix, and his family are running this merger on the basis of you two being our future! And even if it had nothing to do with the Taggaro's, these people Brooke, who you are now associating yourselves with, are trying to tear down everything we have built up! They are not the type you should socialise with Brooke! Is that how little you respect me and your father and everything we have done for you?"

My father put down his coffee mug and spoke up for the first time since I had been in the room. "Look Brooke, we understand how the whole idea of being with Felix has been thrust upon you, and you're naturally looking for ways to go against us, but befriending that Scott boy isn't the way."

"But I don't love Felix," I choked out, while the tears escaped from my eyes.

"Love? This is about love? Brooke, you are so naïve! This isn't one of those stories where people fall in love and then get married and have a happy ending. This is real life. Love will come later. Felix is a lovely boy, and if you would just give him a chance and spend some time with him you would realise that you have a real chance to be happy here, being married into the Taggaro family combined with being a Davis will give you everything you ever dreamed of," My Mom said. I had a feeling the 'everything I ever dreamed of' she was referring to was money.

"Look honey, we're your parents and we know what's best for you." My Dad said. Both my parents exchanged looks, telling me they were having a mental conversation, which for some reason invoked worry within me.

"That's why I spoke to Felix's mother about that trip in the summer; she was talking about, and organised to move it forward slightly."

"What!" I said, nearly in hysterics. The tears were still in full flow, and I made no attempt to hide them.

"We just think how you need some time to reflect without outside influences, and spend some real quality time with Felix, and his parents agree, so tomorrow you and Felix will be going to his grandfather's house in the country, where there's no distractions and ways to get out of this. It's the only building around for miles. We have already spoken to your school and they have agreed to give you both the time off."

I let out a gasp and I didn't think it was possible but I was crying even harder now.

"You can't force me to go!" I yelled. I had never yelled at my parents before, and the change in their demeanour told me they had picked up on it.

"That's enough!" My Dad shouted. "We have done everything for you Brooke, and this is how you are acting! We have known what's best for you for seventeen years of your life, and we will continue to know what's best! I don't know what's caused this change in behaviour from you, maybe it these influences with the Scott's but I don't like it! You will start to behave how you're expected to!"

"Give me your phone," my mother said calmly. I looked up at her with disbelief. "You need to invest yourself into this trip fully, and you can't do that outside influences."

I looked to my Dad to see if he was going to comment but he merely nodded at me. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and threw it onto the dining table.

"Now I suggest you go to your bedroom and begin packing, you have an early flight."

X x x x x x x

**A/N: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review guys, this chapter is my fav so far, and I loved writing it, and I rushed it to get it to you guys because I know I won't have time next week….**

**IF I get 5 reviews by Saturday (Which is my birthday), I will update as a little present from me to you, otherwise you guys will have to wait until the following week and I'm less busy with tests…**

**PS did you like the instant messaging insert? I've never done anything like that before but I thought it would update you on Lucas and Haley even though I didn't write about them here. Do you like the idea of me adding random texts and emails in chapters to give you insight onto other characters?**

**Pps- don't forget the questions at the top!**


	27. Chapter 27 part A

**A/N: Not grammar checked guys! I was rushing to get it out!**

**DEDICATION TO : **QueenCP : I loved your quote in your review! Really made me smile! Thank you so much !

Chapter 27 PART A- This is it.

Lucas POV

"Oh come on! You knew the effect you were having on her!" Haley said laughing.

"I'm not admitting I did, but let's say I knew just for argument sake, so what?" I said.

"Lucas! She was our sixty year old librarian, and you were flirting with her to convince her you were out of class for a reason!"

"Hey, it's not my fault I'm so hot. Unfortunately there's nothing I can do about that!" I said laughing.

Haley hit me on my arm and rolled her eyes. "It's still gross!"

Me and Haley had been walking around our area for the last hour. We had 'run' into each other near The Square, where Haley was walking her dog. Technically I had been hanging around the area, waiting for her to pass knowing full well what time she walked her dog on Saturday mornings. On my sixth round around the Square and about five minutes before I crossed the line into a stalker, she appeared around the corner, and I had bumped into her with an extra ice cream cone, since my 'friend' had to go home. At first she was apprehensive but after I convinced her I couldn't throw the cone away, she agreed to let me join her on her walk. Things had begun to feel how they were between us, before we broke up and time flew by as we talked about the most random things, but avoided the taboo topic of us ever having a relationship. Unfortunately we had gone around the block and ended up in front of her house, which is where we would go our separate ways. I thought about asking her if she wanted to do something else now before the party tonight but didn't want to push her away after taking a step forward. At least she was voluntarily spending time with me now and I didn't want to alert her to the fact, in case she changed her mind.

Haley opened her front gate, and unhooked Biscuit from the leash and let her into the front drive before closing the gate behind the puppy, suggesting she wasn't about to go in herself. I forced myself not to smile.

"So I'll see you at Nathan's tonight right?" she said, "As weird as that will be."

"I know, tell me about it. But yeah I'll be there." I told her. I tried to stop myself reading too much into the fact she asked me if I was going, and trying to analyse whether she was just being polite or she wanted to go with me.

Haley nodded, and pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. There was an awkward silence for a few seconds, as if both of us were waiting for the other to say something.

"So I guess I'll see you tonight," she said moving toward the gate.

"Haley," I started, and she turned around but before she could say anything I leant in to kiss her, unable to stop myself. I imaged my lips making contact with her soft gentle ones and braced myself for the rush of feelings, but I was pulled out of the moment when my lips made contact with her cheek. I opened my eyes and quickly pulled away to find Haley looking awkward. It was lingering between us that she had just moved her face at the last second on purpose. For once in my life I actually felt rejected. I wasn't expecting her to do that. I thought I'd done my time, and I'd apologised and we would get back together.

"Lucas, I'm not ready to jump back into all that with you," she said shuffling her feet.

"Look Haley, I'm really sorry about how I behaved with Alex and I get that I hurt you—"

"It's not about that! Well it is, but it's mostly about how you did that so easily without any consideration for how I might be feeling, and it really hurt and I don't think I want to go through that again." She said crossing her arms, not in a defensive way, but as if she was protecting herself.

"You wouldn't have to go through it again though—"

"Lucas, look I'm not what you're looking for. I'm not the kind of girl you want. I'm not going to be at your beck and call, when you're feeling in the mood to be my boyfriend. I need someone in my life that is going to put as much into this as I am."

"Hales…" I started but I didn't know how to finish. I didn't know how much I had hurt her when I had begun to ignore her chase Alex without any explanation.

"The thing is though, the way you are, it's who you are and you shouldn't have to change," she said before taking a deep breath, "Just like the way I'm nothing like the girls you normally go out with, and I'm not going to change either. I'm nothing like Nikki."

Her eyes filled with tears and I found myself with no idea how to handle the situation. Yes, I had acknowledged to myself that I had hurt her feeling but didn't realise that I had probably broken her heart, and within a few days of breaking up with her I had been traipsing around with Nikki, and not to mention a few other girls right in front of her, making her feel like she wasn't worth anything, and our relationship hadn't meant anything at all to me. At this moment I felt the lowest of low, for what I did and making her feel the way she was. I felt the urge to wrap my arms around her and comfort her in my arms but resisted doing so, because I sensed she needed her space. Before I could reassure her, that I didn't want her to be anything like Nikki she spoke again.

"Look I don't think this friends thing is going to work out," she said, and I felt a physical pain that I didn't know I could feel, in her pushing me out of her life.

"Haley, it's been forty-eight hours since we became friends, and there's no doubt we get on really well. Let's just see how it goes," I said, getting a grip and moving away from the past and into how I was going to fix this.

"Well how about for now we're not friends that hang out and make an effort to see each other. We're just friends that nod when they pass each other in the hallway," she said.

As much as I hated to admit it, I knew we weren't going to go from being in a relationship to breaking up to becoming good friends that quickly. And while I worked on my plan to get us back together, we needed to make the transition, and at least being civil and being a sort of friends was better than having her completely out of my life.

I nodded, even though on the inside I was thinking of ways I could be involved in her life again.

"See you around," she said in a quiet voice, before slipping into her driveway, closing the gate behind her keeping me out. I sighed and watched her walk into her house without once looking back.

X x x x x

Nathan POV

"Seriously dude! On your kitchen worktop!" Julian said, looking like he would pass out purely from the thought of it.

"Yes," I said grimacing, and trying to avoid visualising the scene that had been waiting for me in my kitchen this morning. After I dropped Brooke home this morning, I forced myself to go and pick up the supplies for the party tonight, regretting that I actually volunteered to have it at my house, when I could have been spending the evening curled up by the fireplace with my girl. After letting myself back into the house, I nearly dropped a whole case of beer when I saw Rachel lying seductively on my kitchen worktop wearing lacy black lingerie with bright red heels.

_**One hour earlier**_

"_What the hell are you doing!" _

"_Waiting for you to get back," she said sweetly._

_The Rachel portrayed in front of me was the total opposite to the Brooke that had just left my house, and seeing the over confident borderline trashy girl in front of me compared to the innocent, sweet, genuine person I had just been with made me feel sick that I had ever been with Rachel. I thanked god she hadn't turned up an hour early to find Brooke in the house too, that would have been disastrous, especially having to explain what I was doing with 'Brooke Davis'. Also having Rachel here in her underwear wouldn't have gone down too well with Brooke either._

"_Are you out of your mind!" I said in a shrill voice, trying to avert my eyes and see where she had left her discarded clothes. I would be lying if I said Rachel wasn't attractive, but seeing her in the same house that me and Brooke had made love in less than a few hours ago grossed me out. It was as if her presence was tainting memory._

"_Oh common Nate, you know you want to! I totally get your little arrangement with the boys to get to Lucas. You poor baby, having to spend time with __**her**__," she said pulling a face, " but it will all be over soon, we don't have to go public yet, if that's what you're worried about."_

_I located her jeans and camisole flung over one of the dining room chairs and shoved them into her arms._

"_Cover yourself up!"_

"_Look Nathan, I don't—"_

"_Rachel, look I have no idea what the hell you're talking about! You need to leave now!" I said just wanting her to get out._

_She slipped off the counter and put the clothes down behind her, before slowly pushing one strap off her shoulder._

"_Tell me you don't want me Nathan," she said biting her lip. I automatically picked up what she was trying to do. When we had been seeing each other years ago, I had told her how crazy it made me to see her bite her lip and she constantly used it to get what she wanted. Now though, I didn't feel my body react in passion, but react in anger._

"_Get the hell out of my house Rachel!" I yelled. Everybody would be coming over soon to help set up and the last thing I needed was for this to be spread around and somehow reach Brooke._

_I saw her recognition of how serious I was in my tone and she quickly slipped off her heels and hastily pulled her jeans on, before pulling on her top, and picking up her shoes in her hands._

_She started heading toward the door, and I instantly felt bad for yelling at her. Even though I didn't want her in in that way, she and I were good friends before I had moved and it wasn't as if I hadn't led her on at times since I had been back, especially when me and Brooke were on a break._

"_Rach, wait!" I called after her._

_She stopped in her tracks, and walked over to me. _

" _I knew you wanted me," she whispered._

"_Not like that Rach, I don't." I said bluntly. I could sense her annoyance at me for swapping from her barely used full name to the childish version of her name I had used since childhood._

"_Who the hell do you think you are Nathan?" she said walking back toward the back door, "You have no idea how many guys would kill to be with me!" _

"_Rachel, it's not like that with us," I tried to make her feel better._

"_Whatever, you'll come back to me, they always do," she said facing away from me as she stormed out the door._

_**End Flashback**_

"So what, she just turns up in your kitchen in her underwear just lying there?" Jake said in a strange tone, handing the case of beer he was holding over to Chase.

Before I could answer he said, "And then when you turned her down she just left?"

"Yeah, she was pretty pissed though," I added.

"I can't believe this! You had Rachel lying on your kitchen worktop eating strawberries, and letting the chocolate drip down her—" Julian said in a dream like voice.

"Hey hunny," Bevin said popping up from inside the house where the girls were 'teenage proofing' the house, and setting aside all my Mom's ornaments.

Luke jumped and stopped mid-sentence. "Hey baby," he said in squeaky voice. I rolled my eyes.

"Actually I never said anything about strawberries or chocolate. You added that in for your own entertainment." I said grinning and ignoring the fact that we now had company. Julian went bright red and put his arm around Bev mentally telling me to shut up.

"What you guys talking about?" Bevin said confused.

"Oh nothing," I said laughing.

"Ok whatever, can you guys can come help move the stuff on the decking to make space for the DJ guy from THS?"

"Sure," I said following her over with Chase and Julian behind me.

"Jake, you coming?" I called out to my cousin, who still looked pre-occupied thinking about something else.

"Yeah, sorry," he mumbled heading over the deck.

X x x x x x

Brooke POV

I lay on my bed all cried out, unable to produce any more tears. I had flat out refused to begin packing, as it would make this all the more real. My parents had sent me to bedroom to pack, and even though I doubted they meant I couldn't come out, I had been in my room all day not wanting to see any of them. Neither of them had come to check on me either so I didn't feel so bad. Ada had come up with a sandwich earlier but it still sat untouched on the tray.

"B?" I heard Lucas call from the other side of the door.

"Hmmpppff," I let out from under my covers, not bothering to produce any real words.

I heard the click of the door as he let himself in but remained underneath the covers. I felt the bed sink as he sat down beside me.

"Are you going to join the land of the living any time soon?" He said playfully.

I pushed the covers off my face and sat up a little bit, supporting my weight on my elbow.

"How can you be so calm? You heard what they're doing to me right?" I said, not being able to see the humour in any of this.

"Oh your parents are so terrible! They're letting you miss a month and a half of school, and sending you to live in a luxurious country house. You're right though, they're totally ruining your life."

I glared at him and he sighed, moving his position from opposite me to lie on the covers beside me.

"Ok, fine, I see where you're coming from, but honestly B, why don't you just try and embrace it. Look at the good side of all of this."

"What side of this is good?"

"You won't have to be around your parents for a while, you can do whatever you want. Lucky for me, they'll direct their attention onto making sure I'm the model son."

"Lucas! They're fricking sending me away to force me to be with Felix! This is not even funny!"

"Brooke you are blowing this way out of proportion. This isn't the medieval times; they're just encouraging you to spend some time with him because you're so stubborn you won't give it a chance yourself. Look you know I would never let you get into a situation which was bad for you, and I've spent some time hanging out with Felix , and I can honestly tell you I think he's ok."

"But—"I started

"Have you honestly spent any time with him to get to know the guy?" Lucas said in a tone that he probably would have used if he was talking to a four year old.

"No," I said meekly. "But that doesn't mean I want to go out with him," I said thinking of Nathan, and who I really wanted to be with.

"What's the big deal anyway? It's not like you have a boyfriend."

I was a second too slow in answering because Lucas sat up suddenly. "Are you still seeing that motor cycle guy?"

"Sort of, "I said. That wasn't exactly lying; Nathan was technically the 'Motor cycle guy'

"Do you see yourself having a future with this guy?"

"Maybe," I said, thinking about it for the first time. So far every time I had thought about Nathan, I had thought about right here, right now. I hadn't looked far into the future. Worrying about Felix and Yale and what everyone would think was complicated enough to push it to the back of my mind.

"Well I guess that's for you to figure out. But in the mean time you have to also figure out where you stand with Felix. I know you're adamant not to be with him, and even if that's the way it works out, it's not fair to let him and his family keep thinking you will end up together"

I nodded and sighed. Lucas got up from the bed and made to walk toward the door.

"So get some clothes on and come and help us enjoy the night as much as we can under the circumstances."

For the first time since he had come in, I had noticed that he was dressed to go out.

"Where are you going?"

"The day late after party with NCP remember?"

"Oh, yeah," I said remembering. I had been so busy freaking out about the trip I had completely forgotten about everything else. Although going to a party and socialising was the last think I wanted to do, I knew it would also give me a way to talk to Nathan and explain why I would be out of the picture for the next month. Without the party and without my phone I had no way to get any sort of message to him. I knew that is was really bad timing for our relationship especially after last night, to be leaving for a month.

"I'm heading off now with the guys, we have to pick up the keg and stuff. Do you want me to wait for you?"

"No, its fine, go ahead, I'll see you there," I said getting out of bed and walking into my en suite about to take a quick shower.

"Hey B?" Lucas called before leaving.

"Yeah," I said walking back out into the bedroom.

"You know I'll always be there for you right?"

"I know Luke," I said. He was obviously feeling bad about how upset I was about going on the trip, even though it wasn't his fault.

"That's why I spoke to your parents this morning and convinced them you would make the most of the trip and feel more comfortable if I went too," he said with a grin.

"You ass!" I said throwing my towel at him, but I inside I was thrilled that Lucas would be there and the trip wouldn't suck so much.

Lucas laughed, and threw the towel back at me.

"And you let me sit there upset all morning!" I said throwing a pillow at him, but he caught it. "And you kept it to yourself through that whole conversation!"

I rushed forward and Lucas got ready to defend himself against whatever attack I was about to throw his way but I embraced him in a hug. Lucas was surprised for a second but quickly hugged me back.

"Thanks Lucas," I said into his shirt.

"We'll always have each other's back B."

X x x x x x

Jake POV

Two soft arms came hugged me from behind, and I didn't need three guesses to know who they belonged to. Normally I would have welcomed this type of public affection but today it just irked me further.

"Hey baby. I missed you today, I haven't stopped thinking about you since I left last night," Rachel purred into my ear.

I slammed my beer onto the counter and turned around to face her, pushing her arms off me in the process.

"Cut the crap, Rachel!" I said. The anger in my tone could have been blamed on the amount of alcohol in my system I had already consumed, but I knew it stemmed further from all the times I had supressed my anger at Rachel and let her get away with whatever she wanted.

Just before Nathan came back I felt like we were getting closer and she was through with playing around but now that he was back and she went back to treating me like crap I could see this was all a game to her.

"What are you talking about Jakey?" she said innocently, looking up at me with her bambi eyes, which would normally get me to do what she wanted.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about! You really expect me to believe you were thinking about me all day?" I said, my tone getting louder.

"Jakey, I don't know what's gotten into you, but I promise I was thinking about you! All day all I've been looking forward to finding you here," she said, her tone not changing and still sounding as sweet at the beginning of the conversation. While she was speaking she ran her hand slowly up my arm and I pushed it off, and she looked at me confused.

"Oh, so you were thinking about me when you turned up in your underwear in this very kitchen to try and sleep with my best friend, not to mention cousin,hours after you slept with me!"

Rachel's demeanour fell for a split second, showing her shock at what I had said.

"Look, that's not important, it was a mistake, it's you I want," she said playfully tugging at the bottom of my shirt. "Now stop being silly and what do you say we go find a spare room?"

"Oh you cannot be serious!" I pushed her hands off my shirt and picked up my beer and started walking outside, not intending to finish this conversation, I couldn't be bothered with her.

"Jakey? Where are you going? I thought you wanted to me with me?" she called after me.

"Yeah I wanted to be with you! But because you wanted to be with me too, not as a consolation prize because who you really wanted rejected you! I've had enough of this Rachel, I'm done! I'm through being your play thing!" I said changing my mind and not being able to keep it in any longer. A few people in the kitchen turned and looked at us, trying to pick up what they already missed of the drama.

Rachel's little miss perfect façade dropped and I saw anger appear in her body language.

"This is unbelievable!" She shouted. If we didn't have everyone's full attention before, we had it now. "Twice in one day! First Nathan who I'm starting to believe is a little too interested in the subject of 'the plan' and then you!"

It was then that my feelings were confirmed that Rachel was no longer who she used to be and was no longer one of my best friends who I fell in love with. Somewhere along the line I had started to ignore the fact that she was changing because I didn't want to see it.

"Rachel, have you ever stopped to think the problem might just be you?" I interrupted not wanting her to elaborate on the plan in front of a room full of people.

"Uggh," she scoffed, "Just watch how both of you come crawling back! You have no idea what you are missing out on!" she screeched as she stormed out of the room and into the back garden.

**A/N : Hope you liked it! I'm not going to nag for reviews but pretty please…..**

**ITS MY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW SO I'M FEELING EXTRA GENOUROUS, SO THAT'S WHY YOU'LL GET AN UPDATE TOMORROW IF I GET MORE REVIEWS! IT WILL BE A NICE BDAY PRESENT TO SEE REVIEWS! =]**

**Preview of next chapter:**

_**Can it be that Brooke and Felix seem to be on friendly terms? **_

_**Is the Lucas/Nathan feud finally over once and for all?**_

_**Does anger really make people spill the beans?**_

_**Is it the end for one of our favourite couples?**_

**Ps- I forgot to add in the last chapter, was the scene between Nathan and Brooke when they're about to have sex totally awkward to read? It was my first time doing something like that and I got tremendously embarrassed! (they're easier to read than write!) It was extremely hard…that's why I stopped it where I did, and also because it was a T rating…. Tell me what you thought though, x**


	28. Chapter 27 part B

**A/N: if you want to hear a random story about what happened on my birthday, it's really sweet xD :**

**Basically this year my birthday was so unbirthday like because my Grandad who I am extremely close to was in hospital, and I was really scared. We've been at the hospital for a few days now and they don't know what's wrong with him, except it's serious. Well anyway because of that my family was all there on my bday and my Mum told me to still go out since there was no point me being at the hospital since I still hadnt worked up the nerve to even go in the room because I was so scared of seeing him ill. So I went out for a few hours shopping with my little brother (Who just turned 12) and I was telling him how surreal it was for people on the street not to know it's my birthday except me and how it doesn't feel like my bday because of the circumstances, I got a bit upset over it. But anyway I was in a shop and he went out the shop to a guy selling balloons and bought me a tiger balloon to cheer me up and give it to me in the shop. It was so sweet I nearly cried….but he told me not to because I would embarrass him lol. I love him sometimes! Although today he kept threatening to burst the balloon if I didn't play on the Wii with him! But anyway as I was about to write this I got a call from my parents at the hospital with my Grandad on the phone, and he sounded so much better, and I actually burst into tears I was so relieved! So fingers crossed! I'm writing this as a distraction from that!, x**

Chapter 27 PART B – This is it.

Brooke POV

I walked through the already open front door to see the party was already in full swing. The fact that we were forced to combine the two parties didn't seem to dampen anybody's party mood. The whole crowd had naturally split into two sections, one for each school and seemed to have created their own individual parties. The THS students were mostly inside the house, and the NCP students were in the garden, with both sides heading toward the kitchen for the drinks.

I tried to keep a look out for Nathan but before I could get further than the living room Felix tapped me on the shoulder.

"Hey Brooke, can we talk?" he said with a serious look on his face.

I had another quick glance around for Nathan but when I couldn't see him, nodded at Felix to say what he wanted to say. Considering we were about to spend a lot of time together I didn't have the energy to start it off in a fight all because I didn't talk to him tonight. He was probably all ready to gloat and makes jokes about the next month.

"So my Mom told me about the trip," he said with a weird expression.

"Yep, I bet you're all sorts of pleased about that one," I said sarcastically.

"Brooke look, you're not the only one in a sticky situation ok, my parents are pushing me just as much as yours are!"

"You haven't exactly seemed too upset," I said with my arms crossed.

"Yeah, they were pushing me to go out with you, and you weren't interested so i was just having some fun with the chase," he said shrugging. "But now it's getting more serious and I realised they're really expecting us to go through with this."

"You just figured that out?" I said, still not fully trusting his new attitude.

"Oh common, think about it, it was fun for now but moving forward this quickly, neither of us are ready for that."

I stopped for the first time and gave Felix the benefit of the doubt that maybe he was under just as much pressure as me, and it occurred to me, what teenage boy would want to head out to college practically married to someone?

"So what do we do?" I asked him, hoping he would have some sort of idea, considering I clearly didn't.

"What can we do?" he said looking defeated. "I don't know about your parents, but mine threatened to cut me off, and I can't do that."

I knew from the look on his face that it wasn't a spoilt side of Felix saying that because he wanted to stay rich but a practical side of him looking at the fact that he would have no way to support himself and have nowhere to live. Normally I wouldn't be stupid enough to believe Felix had changed that quickly but something in his change of attitude made me believe the announcement of the trip had put things into perspective for him.

"I don't really have another option either," I said. My parents didn't outright say they would cut me off, but they didn't give me any other option but to go ahead with Felix and Yale.

"So I say we just make the most of the situation and make it comfortable enough for both of us," he said. "How about we start off as friends and take this slow and see what happens?"

I knew I wouldn't be able promise him anymore than friends, because I had Nathan and he was the one I wanted to be with. But being friends and being able to be civil to each other for now would make the trip a lot easier.

"Friends." I said putting out my hand. Felix smiled softly and shook it.

"So I'll see you bright and early tomorrow?" he said rolling his eyes.

"Sure," I said feeling a bit better about the whole situation.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the amount of people in the room getting less and less. I fully turned around to see people rushing out the room into the back yard.

"What's going on?" I asked Felix, trying to see over the top of people.

"I have no idea. Let's go see," he said starting to follow the crowd.

When we got further into the garden I heard a faint chant of 'Lucas' and I'm sure I heard 'Nathan' and few times too. I instantly pushed my way through the people until I was at the front and saw Lucas and Nathan in the middle of a one on one basketball game in Nathan's home basketball court. Nathan pushed the ball out Lucas's hands, jerking him in the process. The illegal move just seemed to excite the crowd more. Lucas rushed forward to recapture the ball, but tripping Nathan to get it. Nathan fell to the floor and Lucas made the basket. People on the THS team rushed out in cheers. Nathan got up from the floor and wiped the blood off his nose. I felt physically sick seeing Nathan injured and wanted to interrupt the game to check he was ok and yell at Lucas. Nathan bounced back quickly though and it wasn't long before he made his own basket.

The game must have gone on about five minutes, but it felt like forever to watch the two of them inflict minor injuries onto each other in their attempts to try and win the game. The game didn't seem to enforce any rules. From somewhere on my left I recognised Chase yell that the next point would mark the winner, and before I could breathe Nathan threw the ball through the air and it balanced on the ring for a few seconds while everyone went silent and held their breath.

The ball went in and all the NCP students cheered, while all the THS students argued it was an illegal point and I rolled my eyes thinking that now felt like pointing out there were rules.

The crowd quickly dispersed and everybody went back to enjoying the party. I didn't know who to console first, but in the end I chose Nathan, who was now on his own, a rare moment. He still looked ecstatic as he drank out of a bottle of water.

As soon as he saw me approaching him, his face lit up and he picked me up in a hug. The garden was too full of people for anybody to notice the students on conflicting sides embracing. He held onto my hand and pulled me into an area near the trees which was a little quieter and we were more hidden in the shade. Just seeing his face made my day brighter.

"Did you see that! I totally beat his ass!" he said still on a high. He saw me raise an eyebrow.

"Didn't think the game got a little too rough?" I said.

"Sorry Dee, but it came both ways," he said and I knew it was true. "I have been trying to find you all day!" he said before kissing me. " I missed you!"

"I missed you too," I told him, clearly noting his tact to change the subject. "My Mom knows about us." I blurted out.

He froze and his face fell. "What?"

"Not everything, but she knows we've been spending time together. A friend of hers saw us together."

"What did you tell her?" he asked concerned. For him, he was never worried about his parents finding out like me, just his friends.

"I couldn't say anything, someone else saw us a few weeks ago, so she knows it wasn't a one off. But now they're kind of sending me on a trip. For a month and a bit." I said not knowing how else to phrase it.

Nathan looked confused. "A trip?"

"They think I should spend more time with Felix," I said quickly.

"What!" he said, the annoyance clearly visible in his eyes. "There is no way you're spending a whole month with Felix Taggaro!" he said the jealous side of him showing. In a way I was slightly pleased at his discomfort of another guy around me.

"I know you don't like it, neither do I but Lucas will be there, and you know he won't let anything happen."

As much as he didn't want to admit it, I would be safe from any guys with Lucas around.

"Lucas is definitely going?" he asked and I nodded.

"And you don't really have a choice in this?"

" I wish I did," I said sighing.

After a second he said, "Ok then, I trust you, it will be ok."

I smiled and leaned in to kiss him, feeling completely safe in his arms, feeling as though I had never left from this morning.

"Nathan? Where are you man?" we heard someone call from the distance.

"I guess we better get back," I said.

"Do we have to?" Nathan said planting butterfly kisses on my face, it was clear neither of us wanted to go back to reality yet.

"Well either we go or they find us here," I said holding his hand and reluctantly going back toward the party. For the first time today I felt my spirits lift and found myself in a happier mood.

We held hands until we got the middle of the garden where most the people now were, including many THS students from inside. "So, can I get you a drink?" Nathan asked.

"Sure," I said, savouring the moment and pretending that we were a normal couple at a school party together.

Nathan walked over to the kitchen and I lingered with the rest of the crowd, waiting for him to come back.

"Yeah it is great to have my baby back, It's like me and Nathan were never apart! Last night after the game we spent the whole night together, it was just magical" I heard an unmistakeable voice say.

I turned around and saw her in the centre of four other girls. The first thing that caught my eye was the crystal rose necklace she was wearing, which I recognised as a gift from Lucas when they first started going out. She had some nerve still going around wearing it.

I snorted out loud, knowing Nathan was with me last night. It was pathetic how she had invented a whole relationship with Nathan out of a figment of her imagination.

I must have made myself heard because Rachel flipped around. "Do you have a problem?" she asked with a sneer.

"No, I just think you're full of crap." I said stating the facts. I was surprised at myself for my boldness but couldn't stop myself from saying it.

X X X X

Lucas POV

"The way he got that last point, was out of order! He didn't actually win!" Chase said trying to make me feel better.

"Guys, can you please stop, Nathan won fair and square. I would really appreciate it if we could talk about something else," I said not wanting to dwell on the fact that I had just lost out on the game I had been waiting for, for a very long time. Skills silently poured me an unidentified liquid into a shot glass and I took it graciously.

"We need a rematch," Peyton said.

"No we don't, I'm fine about it. He won, end of story. Let's just leave it alone," I said again.

Alex sighed, and looked at me suspiciously. "If you're sure..."

"I am," I said gesturing for Skills to pass me the whole bottle. Surprisingly I wasn't upset that I had lost the game, I just felt numb and something told me even if I won I wouldn't have been feeling satisfied, which was part of the reason I didn't want a rematch. It also made me think that maybe my grudge against Nathan had nothing to do with basketball, it was just the excuse I had been telling myself all these years.

"Why is Brooke with Rachel?" Peyton said to herself looking into the distance. I turned around and saw Brooke surrounded by Rachel and her friends. Peyton started walking over, and I followed with everyone else to see if she needed any help. As we walked closer, and few people were attracted by the conversation going on. I could see Brooke was uncomfortable by it all, she never was one for confrontation. I went and stood beside her for moral support, and the rest of our friends gathered around. Without looking at me she reached out and squeezed my arm, which was her message to tell me she was grateful for us coming over.

Rachel was wearing a skin tight strapless black dress with bright red high heels, but what stood out to me the most was the necklace she was wearing. It consisted of an intricate diamond encrusted Rose on a silver chain, which I had given to her on one of our anniversaries. At the time I thought it represented her delicateness and innocence perfectly but now I know I was wrong. I knew now that it symbolised the iciness within in her.

"Oh do you now? What exactly would you know about a relationship?" Rachel said in a condensing tone and I heard a few people snicker around her.

I saw Nathan walk up to the centre of the crowd and stand by Rachel, confusion written all over his face. He brought over two glasses and Rachel took one without once breaking contact. A few months ago, seeing Rachel and Nathan together would have irritated me, even all this time after me and Rachel broke up, but now as far as I was concerned he could have her, they were perfect for one another.

"I know enough," B said in a blasé tone. From the outside it would look like Brooke was completely unbothered by Rachel's comment but I could tell she was uncomfortable. I had no idea what started their conversation but I knew if it came to it, B would be able to handle herself.

"Oh you are so naïve," Rachel snickered. "You're talking about your little relationship with Nathan?"

Everywhere around us people gasped and soft mumbles could be heard, but people still kept quiet, not to miss anymore drama. I could not believe Rachel had resorted to lying for entertainment now too. Nobody would ever believe Brooke would have a 'little relationship' with Nathan. I felt like laughing at the thought. Brooke would never pull anything like that , but even if she did there was no way she would be able to keep it from everybody.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," I said, feeling like I needed to put Rachel in her place, especially since Brooke wasn't saying anything to defend herself. "Tell her B!"

Brooke looked frozen in her spot, obviously from the ridiculous accusation. Nathan just looked angry, he was probably mad at Rachel for saying something so stupid.

"O-M-G! You did, didn't you! That is so sweet, I bet it never even crossed your mind that the whole thing was a bet!" Rachel said grinning.

Brooke's blank look disappeared and she looked up sharply. I saw uncertainty in her eyes and I wanted her to say something and tell everyone Rachel was talking rubbish. I was also very confused now; I had no idea what Rachel was talking about, let alone a bet?

"That's enough," Nathan said firmly. He held onto Rachel's arm and began to tug her away, the contents of her glass sloshing around.

Rachel was undeterred, "It was hilarious, Nathan would go out with you in the day then we would all get together and laugh about it. Especially after you gave him your virginity!"

Now it was my turn to freeze as I fully understood the terms of the 'bet' Rachel was talking about. Was she talking about Brooke? Was she saying Brooke gave Nathan her virginity, meaning she was accusing Brooke of sleeping with Nathan? Now this was getting out of hand.

"What the hell is she talking about," Peyton asked confused. She took one look at Brooke's face and realisation hit hers. "This is what you've been keeping from me," she mumbled, stepping away from Brooke.

"No! She has to be lying, Brooke wouldn't do that," I said. A small part of me, in the back of my mind believed Rachel, and I was trying to convince myself.

I looked over at Brooke who was too busy staring at Nathan with hurt in her eyes, I saw her eyes fill with tears and that was when my worst nightmare was confirmed. I knew in that moment that Rachel was telling the truth and Nathan and Brooke had been together. All of this time she had been lying to me when I had been trying to protect her. All of those time when she had left somewhere early or looked suspicious when hanging up the phone, I just assumed she was still being secretive about her 'secret boyfriend' but now I knew Nathan was it. I was stuck between being mad at Nathan for using my sister in a bet, and hurting her, let alone sleeping with her, and being mad at Brooke for being stupid enough to get herself into the situation in the first place, and believing all of Nathan's crap.

Brooke tried to take a step forward but I could tell she was feeling dizzy as she began to fall. Nathan reached out to steady her, but thankfully Skills got there first. I felt the anger rise in me to see that asshole about to touch her, even after his whole bet had been revealed. It was his plan all along.

Brooke shrugged Skills off and ran through everybody. Before I could do anything, Nathan ran after her, and the crowd of people exploded into conversation about what had just happened. I ran into the living room to get Nathan away from her, but couldn't see them anywhere.

x

Brooke POV

"Get the hell away from me!" I yelled, pushing Nathan's hand off my arm.

In the back of my mind, I always knew this was too good to be true, but I had just ignored all the signs. I should have known from the first day that Nathan approached me on the beach that he had a motive, why go to all the effort otherwise. I cursed myself for not asking more questions the day I was sure Jake had seen us on the beach but Nathan had changed the subject. But what hurt the most was that their little plan had fully worked. I had completely fallen in love with Nathan, or at the least Nathan he pretended to be. Last night, a memory that filled me with happiness now filled me with dread and I felt sick at what I had done. Unfortunately it would be a memory I would never be able to forget.

I didn't believe any of the words coming out of Rachel's mouth, especially since I had just heard her lying about how she was with Nathan last night. But the comment about losing my virginity really hit home, how else would Rachel know about that otherwise?

"Just listen to me!" Nathan called after me as I tried to locate my car, but the fact that my vision was blurred by tears didn't help. "Don't listen to Rachel! It was all real for me, I care about you-"

"Oh, so you didn't have enough fun the first time around, you want to string me along even more so its funnier how I fell for it a second time?" I said weakly, stopping in my tracks. I felt broken and I'm sure it came through in my tone and voice.

"No! Dee, you need to let me explain, I Lo—" he started.

"Don't!" I stopped him putting my hand over his mouth. I knew it would completely break me further to hear him tell me he loved me again. "Don't you dare," I whispered. "And my name is Brooke not Dee"

Oh he really was good at acting! He even made it look like he was pained by my comment telling him to use my full name! But I refused to be sucked in again, especially now I knew from all the times we had spent together how good at pretending he really was. "But, it's true!"

I childishly covered my ears, knowing it wouldn't actually block him out but the last thing I wanted to do was hear him tell me how pathetic I am and how fun it was for him.

"Please, Dee, just listen to me," he said pathetically. If anything his determination to not let up even after his whole plan had been outed in front of two student bodies.

" I cannot believe you let me sleep with you, even after you knew how much it meant to me! Even if it was all just a big joke, you didn't have that much decency? I just need to know one thing, and hear it straight from you. Was I a bet?" I asked, begging him with my eyes to tell me the truth.

"It's not—" he started

"Was I a bet, Yes or no?"

"Yes, but-!" he said.

"That's all I need to know," I said, about to walk away for the final time, not bothering to wipe the tears. In the last two days I think I have cried more than I have ever cried in my entire life. I was surprised I even had any more tears left. "Don't ever talk to me again."

Nathan looked to me with sad eyes and I forced myself not to fall into the trap. He made to speak, but before he could I saw Lucas run out of the house, with Chase, Skills and the girls hot on his heels.

Lucas walked up to us, and didn't even glance my way before he punched Nathan straight in the face. Nathan staggered backward surprised, and before he could recover Lucas hit him again. I heard Peyton shriek as Chase attempted to pull Lucas away. Nathan punched Lucas in the gut, and Lucas hit the floor.

It was all too much in the space of five minutes for me, and I began to feel dizzy again. Haley ran up to me and took my hand. "Common sweetie, let's get you out of here," she said leading me away.

X x x xx x x x

**A/N: Maybe I should just end the story there and never finish it, and just leave you in suspense? Just kidding xD**

**I would really love to hear from you guys now! Especially since there isn't too much left.**

**Try and review so I can see what you think before I write the next one. I'm pretty busy this week, but if I get some to help with the next one I'll try fit it in. **

**Love you all, xx**


	29. Chapter 28

**A/N: I really hope you like it guys! Let me warn you now, there are about three or two chapters then a jump forward about two weeks, then about 2-3 chapters, then the epilogue which is in four parts. It's really coming together and I hope you like it!**

Chapter 29- Regrets

Brooke POV

It had taken me all of five minutes after hanging up the phone to Nathan, to start doubting what I had just done. For the first five minutes, I was glad I had ended things once and for all with Nathan. It was a relationship that came with a compulsory side order of complicated drama. After Haley had dropped me home, I had never hated Nathan more, realising that our whole relationship had been a cruel joke. The thought of him making a joke out of the nights that meant the most to me with all of his friends pulled me apart. Then those pulled apart pieces were broken further when I thought back to how I had slept with him less than twenty four hours ago.

At the time it had felt right, and it was a moment that I wanted to remember for the rest of my life, but now it felt dirty, and I wanted nothing more than to forget it. I was probably another name on his long list of girls that he had slept with, the fact that I was a bet making it a little bit more exciting for him. But through all that, what had hit me the most was my lack of being able to see through his whole plan, and turning into one of those mindless girls infatuated with a guy to see the truth.

It had all become too much, and I was glad Haley had driven me home, but I couldn't help wish that I had stayed because at home, I had no way of knowing what exactly had happened after I had left. After everything that had been revealed last night, I expected some phone calls, especially from Peyton, but the fact that I hadn't heard from anybody for at least two hours told me that they were too occupied dealing with something else, and intuition told me it wasn't good.

At that point in time, I forced any feelings for Nathan I had to the back of my mind, and was full of worry for Lucas. The last I had seen him he was in a fully-fledged fight with Nathan. I didn't expect Lucas to just stand on the side lines, when he found out what Nathan did to me, but I was now full of worry that he was getting hurt. I also felt terrible that I had dragged him into this mess, because whatever he did tonight was sure to have consequences and he didn't need to get into any more trouble with my parents right now, and the whole thing with Nathan was dying down, and this would just flare it up again.

Somewhere around two am, I heard Lucas come home, and I automatically felt relieved. I had left the front door unlocked so it was easier for him to get in without waking everyone up. Any reassurance I had felt that everything was ok when he came home was blown away as I took in his appearance. His eye was swollen and was already darkening in colour to form a bruise, and he had a nasty gash in his lip. There was small cuts on his hands, and blood on his white t-shirt that I didn't know who it belonged to. I felt sick thinking the blood was Lucas's or Nathan's, then immediately got angry with myself for thinking about _him_.

I don't know how exactly I had expected Lucas to react when I saw him, or what he was thinking, but I had never foreseen the hurt that was on his face, that was evidence that I had hurt him, something I vowed never to do. Ever since his parents, my aunt and Uncle had passed away, I had seen how broken he was from inside and had vowed to always keep him happy, and never make him feel that way again. But now, seeing that pain in his eyes again, and knowing the fact that it was my fault that it was there made me feel terrible. Of course I had felt bad lying to him. All along I had seen it as little white lies, but now I saw how I went against the one thing he had asked me to do by getting involved with Nathan. When Lucas had told me, how Nathan had planned it all out to tell Lucas about his affair with Rachel on the anniversary of his parents death, I felt like the lowest of low, but what had killed me, was to see Lucas walk out my room, a new calmness fallen over him after he had been yelling at me, and to hear him tell me that I didn't have his back. It was easy for me to say that I did have his back and would always be there for him, but I knew that wasn't true. I had failed him, and hadn't been there for him the same way he would drop everything to do so for me. I felt his disappointment flow through me, and that was what killed me. I don't even think I would have hurt as much if either of my parents and not Luke were disappointed in me.

So that was why even after Nathan had managed to call me this morning, and explained everything to me, and even after I had started to believe his side of the story, I had decided to end things once and for all, because I didn't want to hurt Lucas again. I needed to be on his side, where my place was, and not on Nathan's side. Nathan had forced me to look back, and even I had to admit now that I had more time to reflect that many of the moments we did have between us were real. But I was still mad that he had never told me about the bet, but I could understand his fear of reality breaking us up. But no relationship was this hard. It was just too complicated. Nobody should have to fight this hard to be with someone. We had never looked far into the future and we had just looked as far as the moment required us too. But if we had stayed together, there was no way my parents would accept it, and break the whole deal with the Taggaro's. There was no way that Lucas and all my friends and Nathan's friends would accept it. It would never work, and if we had just sat down from the start and thought about it, maybe we could have avoided all of this.

After the phone call from Nathan, I had been packing at the speed of a snail, trying to slow the process of getting on that plane, when my Mother walked in.

"Brooke! Why aren't you ready! The car will be here in twenty minutes!" she said gesturing to the various piles of clothes all over my bedroom.

I just ignored her and carried on folding a pair of jeans and putting it into my bag.

"Look, when you're there, I expect you to remember how exactly to behave. You know, you don't see how lucky you are. Most girls would do anything to be in your position." She said. Well I'm not most girls, I thought.

She walked over to my suitcase, and took out the jeans and grimacing as she pulled out an old hoodie of Lucas's which said 'Keith's autoshop' on the back which I had adopted a while ago. She walked over to my wardrobe, and took out a black pencil skirt, and various blouses, not to mention a few dresses to add to the mix.

I sighed loudly, as I went to rescue my discarded clothing which she had just thrown on the floor.

"Look, I know you hate me now, but I'm doing all this for you! I want to you have everything I didn't growing up. I just want to you be happy."

"Mom, you're not doing this for me. I'm already happy, I don't need money for that. You're doing this for you because you didn't have it growing up, so you want it all now, so don't use me as your excuse!" I said. Before I could breathe, I felt a sharp slap across my face, and I automatically reached up to my cheek in shock because my mother had never hit me ever before.

"The car will be here soon," she said as if the last few seconds hadn't happened, and walked out of the door.

It was precisely that second that I wished I had taken back what I had said to Nathan on the phone. It was then that I realised that it was everyone for their own. Everything my parents wanted me to do was for their own benefit, and I couldn't do something for someone else's happiness if it made me miserable. Of course I didn't want to hurt Lucas, I still stuck by that, but maybe I could make him see that Nathan wasn't so bad, and help them to rebuild their friendship. I had the whole trip, with Lucas to do just that. I didn't need my parents to be with me, but I needed Lucas.

I was wondering if this would actually work, and if me and Nathan actually had a future, and I wasn't jumping too far ahead, when my door opened again and Peyton came in. I heard my Mom yell up the stairs something along the lines of Peyton getting me to hurry up.

She closed the door behind her, and shrugged her shoulders and bit her lip, something she only did when she was confused. We both stood there in silence, I don't think I have ever seen her quite so speechless. I felt bad all over again because I had forgotten all about Peyton, and how she had been out of the loop too, and I had lied to her just as many times as everyone else.

"Peyt…."

"Whatever," she said shrugging and sitting on my bed, playing with the stitching. "You don't have to tell me everything you know, I just wish you wouldn't lie to me."

I pushed the pile of clothes my mother had just made onto the floor, no doubt creasing them, and sat down next to her.

"I'm so sorry! I never wanted to lie to you," I said.

"Then why did you? So all those times, you were rushing off to somewhere, you were actually with Nathan Scott?"

I nodded, ashamed.

" I mean he's totally a ten, so I can see why you went for that, but he's Nathan Scott! What the hell were you thinking? He's bad news!"

"Can you stop using his full name," I said, it making me nervous. Using his full name made it seem like a much bigger deal than it was.

"Oh!" she said in a sarcastic voice. "I'm sorry, me and him aren't exactly on a first name basis!"

"Peyton….."

"What?" she said stubbornly she said with her arms crossed.

"You don't even know him…." I started.

She took one look at my expression and took in my tone to realise I was defending him.

"Oh you cannot be serious! Were you even at the same party I was at last night!"

"I love him…."

She took hold of my shoulders and shook them. "Snap out of it! You don't love him!"

"I really do," I said unable to stop a smile reaching my face.

Just then I heard my Mom yell that the car was here.

"I may have ruined it all though," I said panicking. My mom called up again, and I leapt off the bed, zipping up my suit case.

"What are you talking about?" Peyton said, confused, as I heard the doorbell ring.

"Look, I don't have time to explain!" I said, slipping on my jacket, and shoes. "I just need a favour!"

"You're hardly in the position to be asking for favours right now!" she scoffed.

"Peyt! Please! I'm sorry, I am! But you're my best friend and I love you!" I said walking over to her side and standing in front of her.

"I love you too," she said rolling her eyes, and I couldn't help but squeal.

"Ok, here's what I need you to do! Find Nathan, and tell him ' In _this_ time, and I _this_ place' can you remember that?"

"One: What the hell does that mean? And two: You want me to go over to NCP's turf, and speak to Nathan Scott!"

"Don't be so dramatic," I said, visualising an invisible barrier, that neither school cross over into. "It's not like you're gonna get jumped! The worst thing that happens in this town is someone steals someone else's mail!"

My Dad called up the stairs and I knew they were losing patience. For now, until I had a plan, I knew I had to go on this stupid trip and there was nothing I could do about it. At least Lucas would be there to keep me company, and I had that time to get him on my side.

"Please," I said, pleading to her, picking up my suitcase and dragging it toward the door. She looked me in the eye, and she sighed. This was my only way to get my message to Nathan that I regretted ending things, and I believe him and want to be together.

"Ok, fine," she said, following me out, and I felt relieved.

"In _this_ time, and in _this_ place! Don't forget!" I said before we both went down.

My Mother and Father were both standing by the door, talking to Felix, who was dressed in jeans and a blue polo shirt.

"Ahhh, there she is," my father called down, like a proud father.

"Here I am," I said in false cheeriness.

"So , shall we get this show on the road?" he said, in a tone, that seemed excited to my parents, but I heard the sympathetic level to it, and I smiled to see he was on my side, and didn't want to be here, just as much as I did.

"Sure. Is Luke in the car?" I asked, not seeing his bag anywhere.

"Oh no, dear, change of plans. Lucas, isn't coming," my Mom said.

"What!" I shrieked. "You told him he couldn't come!" I said getting mad now. Lucas being there was the only thing keeping me sane, and they had no reason to even keep him here. They were so selfish sometimes! I could see the look in both my parents eyes telling to tone it down because of who else was in the hall, but right now I could care less about Felix.

"Maybe I should go," Peyton mumbled, walking out of the front door.

"Actually quite the opposite. I encouraged him to go, especially seeing the state of him this morning," He said clearly disapprovingly. "It would be better for everyone for nobody here to see him while he got better. But he said he wanted to stay, as he didn't want to fall behind in his studies," My Dad said, not being able to hide the confusion he felt about Lucas's reasoning, and I fully saw where he was coming from. Lucas could care less about his studies, and would normally jump at a chance like this.

I refused to believe that Lucas would refuse to come because of me, and what had happened last night. When he told me that he would be coming, he told me he would always have my back, something we would always say to one another, and I never thought he would be mad enough to not want to be around me.

Just then, as if on cue, Lucas appeared from the kitchen wearing his pyjamas, holding a tray with muffins, and bagels and a two glasses of orange juice. I winced taking in the bruises that had appeared overnight.

Normally, I could tell exactly what he was thinking just from looking at his face, but now all I felt was distance, and couldn't even pick up one thought.

"Oh man, I didn't think it would be that bad, how're you doing?" Felix said.

"It's better than it looks, "Lucas said shrugging, then frowning as he realised it hurt to do that too.

"Just get some rest," Felix said.

"Will do, have a good trip," Lucas said, heading toward the stairs. He didn't even look at me once through that whole conversation, or say anything to be about the trip.

"You decided not to come?" I called after him, and he stopped.

"You don't need me there," he said in a matter of fact way, and I knew his words held a double meaning and as soon as he said them I felt a sharp pain in my stomach.

"Well you kids need to catch your flight. Felix, your mother said she would send a handler with you," My mom said, choosing to ignore the fact that me and Lucas were in the middle of a conversation as making sure there was someone with us to make sure we both followed through with this.

"Yes, Carlson is already in the car," Felix said.

"Fantastic. Well have a wonderful trip both of you," My Dad said before seeing us out the door.

I took one last look behind me , mentally begging Lucas to look at me, to tell me everything was ok between us, and everything would be ok, but he was too busy rearranging the items on his tray to look over at me.

Felix helped me into car, then while he was walking around, my Father walked out of the door, and over to the window.

"Brooke, if this doesn't go as planned, I will be so disappointed in you—" he started

"Dad—"

"Look, Brooke, nobody is forcing you to do anything, you can walk away any second."

Was he saying what I think he was saying? That I didn't have to go through with any of this? Then why had he been pushing so hard up until now?

"But don't expect there to be a place for you in this house," he said coldly before walking away. I gasped taking in the meaning of his words.

X x x x

Lucas POV.

I had fully forgotten about the trip until this morning, but I knew right away that the last thing I wanted to do was go with them. I was still mad at Brooke, and knew I couldn't handle being stuck with her inside a house, as huge as it was for a month and a half. I knew eventually I wouldn't angry at Brooke anymore, but I also knew that it wouldn't be the same between us again.

It would be good for her to go away for a while, and let everything here die down, and the revelation from last night turn into yesterday's news.

I was about to head upstairs again, to Haley, who was still asleep when Aunt Clarissa said "Is it really necessary to be consuming that amount of food?"

"I'm hungry," I told her shrugging, and avoiding telling her there was a girl asleep in my bed. She ignored my answer and walked upstairs.

"After I get home from work, we need to have a chat in my office about what to do about your behavioural issues," Uncle Michael said, walking back into the house from seeing Brooke off. Great, a long lecture was exactly what I wanted.

"Yes, sir," I said saluting him in a mocking way.

"Less of the back talk young man. You need to learn your actions will have consequences"

I wonder what he would say if I told him why my 'actions' took place, and it involved Nathan Scott and his little girl.

"Whatever," I mumbled, going upstairs.

At the top, before I could turn onto the left side landing to my room, Aunt Clarissa, walked out of her room , and over to me.

"Lucas, I can't seem to get this thing to stop ringing, and its giving me a headache," she said handing me Brooke's phone, before she went downstairs.

I pushed the button at the top to switch on the phone and saw she had seventeen missed calls just from this morning, from someone called Natalia. It didn't take a genius to figure out who that was. I can't believe even after last night he still didn't get the message to back off and stop screwing with her. I deleted the messages and wiped the frown off my face before going back in to wake up Hales.

x

Lucas POV

Soon after Haley went home, I lay by the pool, planning to stay there doing nothing all day, until I would be forced to get up when my Uncle got home for our little 'talk'.

A shadow was cast over me and I opened my eyes.

"Peyton?" I asked surprised. Surely she knew Brooke wasn't here. She was actually here when she was leaving. Even though we were all friends, Peyton and I rarely socialised alone outside of our group.

"Hey," she said, sitting on the lounger beside me.

"What's up?" I asked her, offering her a coke out of the cool box next to me.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about B," she said taking a long sip.

"Go on."

"She was saying some ridiculous things this morning, and she gave me a message to pass on, and I'm confused at what to do," she said.

"What did she say?" I said curious.

"She said she was in love with Nathan."

"What!" I said in shock. She had to be kidding me! Even after everything that happened she still thought she was in love with the guy Nathan was pretending to be with her. Had nothing that I had said to her last night gone into her brain? Or did she just not care?

"She wanted me to say something like ' In this time, in this place' to him," Peyton said with a puzzled look.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"That's exactly what I said. She obviously doesn't know what's good for her right now, and as her best friend, I feel like we should be looking out for her," she said, lying back on the recliner.

"And how do we do that?" I asked her.

"Well this trip will be a good time to get over Nathan and we should help him get over her too?" she said like a question. As much as I didn't want to get involved, I knew Brooke still needed someone to look out for her since she wasn't going to think rationally for herself, even if she just needed a little push in the right direction, which was the opposite way to wherever Nathan was.

"I like the way you think," I told her, raising my can to hers as we both knocked them together and took a sip.

x

Nathan POV

I was officially starting to reach rock bottom. I had been walking along the shops at The Square, hoping to see Brooke in one of them for the hour. I had walked around so many times now, even the dogs being walked, let alone their owners were starting to recognise me.

It still hadn't kicked in that Brooke had ended things. Yes, she's ended it a few times before for various reasons but this time, something told me it was more final. She wasn't mad at me because our relationship was built on the basis of a bet, in fact she believed that I was in love with her, and she loved me too. She broke up with me because of how hard staying together would be, and as far as I knew we weren't going to change who we were any time soon.

Part of me wished I had told her all about the bet from day one, but I knew if I had we wouldn't have even gotten past the first date. And even if we did, her decision about it being too hard was inevitable.

I had been trying to call her ever since she had hung up on me, to try and get her to change her mind but she wouldn't pick up her cell. Even know, in between looking into shop windows I was hitting the redial button.

I had been sent out of my house by the girls, who deemed me useless, and said I was getting in the way of them clearing up with my moping. Even the guys could see something was wrong with me.

I was just coming up to Slurpy's for the fifth time, when I saw that girl who was always with Brooke coming out. She probably knew where Brooke was. I could see Lucas sitting at the table the girl had just gotten up from with about three other people, and from the looks of it, he was just as bruised up as me. Now that I knew he was here, I knew Brooke hadn't gone on her trip since Lucas was supposed to go with her. They probably postponed it since Lucas was obviously recovering. At least now I knew she was around somewhere, and she wasn't totally unreachable.

She turned into the car park and I jogged to reach her before she drove off.

"Hey!" I called and she turned around.

"Hi," she said cautiously.

"Peyton right?" I asked her, and she nodded.

"I was wondering if you knew where I could find Brooke," I said, knowing there was a very small chance she would tell me, considering she looked like she hated my guts.

"First of all, I don't see why I should tell you anything after what you did, and secondly you should just leave her alone, you've already done enough!"

"Look, it's all just a huge misunderstanding! I just really need to see her."

"It doesn't matter anyway, she's not even in Tree Hill, she's gone on holiday with her fiancé."

"But I saw Lucas here." I said confused.

"Lucas? He was never going to go. Her parents wanted Lucas to go, but Brooke told them three's a crowd, and she's much rather spend some alone time with Felix."

"Brooke wanted to spend alone time with Felix? That doesn't sound like her," I said, knowing that's the last thing Brooke would want to do.

"Really? I saw her this morning before she left and she was pretty excited. She's been looking forward to this trip for weeks."

I felt a lump in my throat, as I realised Brooke was with Felix on the trip all alone. She was obviously happy to put our relationship behind her.

I suddenly felt like a complete idiot for sulking all morning, when Brooke was obviously happy to move on.

I made an excuse to Peyton and walked out of the parking lot, and out of The Square walking back toward my street, hoping the house would be empty, and my friends had finished with the clean-up and gone home. I was obviously grateful that I had such great friends, cleaning up my house after a party while I was out, but I didn't want to socialise right now.

I passed the beach on my way back to my house and deliberated between going home for a nap, or trying to clear my head with a walk along the shore. Snorting, I realised the latter option would just turn me into one of those douches from One tree hill− who, incidentally, had completely stolen the concept from Dawson's Creek. A walk always helps people think and deal with their feeling on tv but this was real life, so I headed to a bar. Getting pissed out of my mind seemed more appealing anyway. It was a good job; I knew exactly where to go that didn't have a problem serving minors.

**A/N: Not a lot happened in this chapter but so much happened at the same time! Let me know what you think!**


	30. Chapter 29

**A/N: I really hope you like it guys! Let me warn you now, there are about three or two chapters then a jump forward about two weeks, then about 2-3 chapters, then the epilogue which is in four parts. It's really coming together and I hope you like it!**

Chapter 29- Regrets

Brooke POV

It had taken me all of five minutes after hanging up the phone to Nathan, to start doubting what I had just done. For the first five minutes, I was glad I had ended things once and for all with Nathan. It was a relationship that came with a compulsory side order of complicated drama. After Haley had dropped me home, I had never hated Nathan more, realising that our whole relationship had been a cruel joke. The thought of him making a joke out of the nights that meant the most to me with all of his friends pulled me apart. Then those pulled apart pieces were broken further when I thought back to how I had slept with him less than twenty four hours ago.

At the time it had felt right, and it was a moment that I wanted to remember for the rest of my life, but now it felt dirty, and I wanted nothing more than to forget it. I was probably another name on his long list of girls that he had slept with, the fact that I was a bet making it a little bit more exciting for him. But through all that, what had hit me the most was my lack of being able to see through his whole plan, and turning into one of those mindless girls infatuated with a guy to see the truth.

It had all become too much, and I was glad Haley had driven me home, but I couldn't help wish that I had stayed because at home, I had no way of knowing what exactly had happened after I had left. After everything that had been revealed last night, I expected some phone calls, especially from Peyton, but the fact that I hadn't heard from anybody for at least two hours told me that they were too occupied dealing with something else, and intuition told me it wasn't good.

At that point in time, I forced any feelings for Nathan I had to the back of my mind, and was full of worry for Lucas. The last I had seen him he was in a fully-fledged fight with Nathan. I didn't expect Lucas to just stand on the side lines, when he found out what Nathan did to me, but I was now full of worry that he was getting hurt. I also felt terrible that I had dragged him into this mess, because whatever he did tonight was sure to have consequences and he didn't need to get into any more trouble with my parents right now, and the whole thing with Nathan was dying down, and this would just flare it up again.

Somewhere around two am, I heard Lucas come home, and I automatically felt relieved. I had left the front door unlocked so it was easier for him to get in without waking everyone up. Any reassurance I had felt that everything was ok when he came home was blown away as I took in his appearance. His eye was swollen and was already darkening in colour to form a bruise, and he had a nasty gash in his lip. There was small cuts on his hands, and blood on his white t-shirt that I didn't know who it belonged to. I felt sick thinking the blood was Lucas's or Nathan's, then immediately got angry with myself for thinking about _him_.

I don't know how exactly I had expected Lucas to react when I saw him, or what he was thinking, but I had never foreseen the hurt that was on his face, that was evidence that I had hurt him, something I vowed never to do. Ever since his parents, my aunt and Uncle had passed away, I had seen how broken he was from inside and had vowed to always keep him happy, and never make him feel that way again. But now, seeing that pain in his eyes again, and knowing the fact that it was my fault that it was there made me feel terrible. Of course I had felt bad lying to him. All along I had seen it as little white lies, but now I saw how I went against the one thing he had asked me to do by getting involved with Nathan. When Lucas had told me, how Nathan had planned it all out to tell Lucas about his affair with Rachel on the anniversary of his parents death, I felt like the lowest of low, but what had killed me, was to see Lucas walk out my room, a new calmness fallen over him after he had been yelling at me, and to hear him tell me that I didn't have his back. It was easy for me to say that I did have his back and would always be there for him, but I knew that wasn't true. I had failed him, and hadn't been there for him the same way he would drop everything to do so for me. I felt his disappointment flow through me, and that was what killed me. I don't even think I would have hurt as much if either of my parents and not Luke were disappointed in me.

So that was why even after Nathan had managed to call me this morning, and explained everything to me, and even after I had started to believe his side of the story, I had decided to end things once and for all, because I didn't want to hurt Lucas again. I needed to be on his side, where my place was, and not on Nathan's side. Nathan had forced me to look back, and even I had to admit now that I had more time to reflect that many of the moments we did have between us were real. But I was still mad that he had never told me about the bet, but I could understand his fear of reality breaking us up. But no relationship was this hard. It was just too complicated. Nobody should have to fight this hard to be with someone. We had never looked far into the future and we had just looked as far as the moment required us too. But if we had stayed together, there was no way my parents would accept it, and break the whole deal with the Taggaro's. There was no way that Lucas and all my friends and Nathan's friends would accept it. It would never work, and if we had just sat down from the start and thought about it, maybe we could have avoided all of this.

After the phone call from Nathan, I had been packing at the speed of a snail, trying to slow the process of getting on that plane, when my Mother walked in.

"Brooke! Why aren't you ready! The car will be here in twenty minutes!" she said gesturing to the various piles of clothes all over my bedroom.

I just ignored her and carried on folding a pair of jeans and putting it into my bag.

"Look, when you're there, I expect you to remember how exactly to behave. You know, you don't see how lucky you are. Most girls would do anything to be in your position." She said. Well I'm not most girls, I thought.

She walked over to my suitcase, and took out the jeans and grimacing as she pulled out an old hoodie of Lucas's which said 'Keith's autoshop' on the back which I had adopted a while ago. She walked over to my wardrobe, and took out a black pencil skirt, and various blouses, not to mention a few dresses to add to the mix.

I sighed loudly, as I went to rescue my discarded clothing which she had just thrown on the floor.

"Look, I know you hate me now, but I'm doing all this for you! I want to you have everything I didn't growing up. I just want to you be happy."

"Mom, you're not doing this for me. I'm already happy, I don't need money for that. You're doing this for you because you didn't have it growing up, so you want it all now, so don't use me as your excuse!" I said. Before I could breathe, I felt a sharp slap across my face, and I automatically reached up to my cheek in shock because my mother had never hit me ever before.

"The car will be here soon," she said as if the last few seconds hadn't happened, and walked out of the door.

It was precisely that second that I wished I had taken back what I had said to Nathan on the phone. It was then that I realised that it was everyone for their own. Everything my parents wanted me to do was for their own benefit, and I couldn't do something for someone else's happiness if it made me miserable. Of course I didn't want to hurt Lucas, I still stuck by that, but maybe I could make him see that Nathan wasn't so bad, and help them to rebuild their friendship. I had the whole trip, with Lucas to do just that. I didn't need my parents to be with me, but I needed Lucas.

I was wondering if this would actually work, and if me and Nathan actually had a future, and I wasn't jumping too far ahead, when my door opened again and Peyton came in. I heard my Mom yell up the stairs something along the lines of Peyton getting me to hurry up.

She closed the door behind her, and shrugged her shoulders and bit her lip, something she only did when she was confused. We both stood there in silence, I don't think I have ever seen her quite so speechless. I felt bad all over again because I had forgotten all about Peyton, and how she had been out of the loop too, and I had lied to her just as many times as everyone else.

"Peyt…."

"Whatever," she said shrugging and sitting on my bed, playing with the stitching. "You don't have to tell me everything you know, I just wish you wouldn't lie to me."

I pushed the pile of clothes my mother had just made onto the floor, no doubt creasing them, and sat down next to her.

"I'm so sorry! I never wanted to lie to you," I said.

"Then why did you? So all those times, you were rushing off to somewhere, you were actually with Nathan Scott?"

I nodded, ashamed.

" I mean he's totally a ten, so I can see why you went for that, but he's Nathan Scott! What the hell were you thinking? He's bad news!"

"Can you stop using his full name," I said, it making me nervous. Using his full name made it seem like a much bigger deal than it was.

"Oh!" she said in a sarcastic voice. "I'm sorry, me and him aren't exactly on a first name basis!"

"Peyton….."

"What?" she said stubbornly she said with her arms crossed.

"You don't even know him…." I started.

She took one look at my expression and took in my tone to realise I was defending him.

"Oh you cannot be serious! Were you even at the same party I was at last night!"

"I love him…."

She took hold of my shoulders and shook them. "Snap out of it! You don't love him!"

"I really do," I said unable to stop a smile reaching my face.

Just then I heard my Mom yell that the car was here.

"I may have ruined it all though," I said panicking. My mom called up again, and I leapt off the bed, zipping up my suit case.

"What are you talking about?" Peyton said, confused, as I heard the doorbell ring.

"Look, I don't have time to explain!" I said, slipping on my jacket, and shoes. "I just need a favour!"

"You're hardly in the position to be asking for favours right now!" she scoffed.

"Peyt! Please! I'm sorry, I am! But you're my best friend and I love you!" I said walking over to her side and standing in front of her.

"I love you too," she said rolling her eyes, and I couldn't help but squeal.

"Ok, here's what I need you to do! Find Nathan, and tell him ' In _this_ time, and I _this_ place' can you remember that?"

"One: What the hell does that mean? And two: You want me to go over to NCP's turf, and speak to Nathan Scott!"

"Don't be so dramatic," I said, visualising an invisible barrier, that neither school cross over into. "It's not like you're gonna get jumped! The worst thing that happens in this town is someone steals someone else's mail!"

My Dad called up the stairs and I knew they were losing patience. For now, until I had a plan, I knew I had to go on this stupid trip and there was nothing I could do about it. At least Lucas would be there to keep me company, and I had that time to get him on my side.

"Please," I said, pleading to her, picking up my suitcase and dragging it toward the door. She looked me in the eye, and she sighed. This was my only way to get my message to Nathan that I regretted ending things, and I believe him and want to be together.

"Ok, fine," she said, following me out, and I felt relieved.

"In _this_ time, and in _this_ place! Don't forget!" I said before we both went down.

My Mother and Father were both standing by the door, talking to Felix, who was dressed in jeans and a blue polo shirt.

"Ahhh, there she is," my father called down, like a proud father.

"Here I am," I said in false cheeriness.

"So , shall we get this show on the road?" he said, in a tone, that seemed excited to my parents, but I heard the sympathetic level to it, and I smiled to see he was on my side, and didn't want to be here, just as much as I did.

"Sure. Is Luke in the car?" I asked, not seeing his bag anywhere.

"Oh no, dear, change of plans. Lucas, isn't coming," my Mom said.

"What!" I shrieked. "You told him he couldn't come!" I said getting mad now. Lucas being there was the only thing keeping me sane, and they had no reason to even keep him here. They were so selfish sometimes! I could see the look in both my parents eyes telling to tone it down because of who else was in the hall, but right now I could care less about Felix.

"Maybe I should go," Peyton mumbled, walking out of the front door.

"Actually quite the opposite. I encouraged him to go, especially seeing the state of him this morning," He said clearly disapprovingly. "It would be better for everyone for nobody here to see him while he got better. But he said he wanted to stay, as he didn't want to fall behind in his studies," My Dad said, not being able to hide the confusion he felt about Lucas's reasoning, and I fully saw where he was coming from. Lucas could care less about his studies, and would normally jump at a chance like this.

I refused to believe that Lucas would refuse to come because of me, and what had happened last night. When he told me that he would be coming, he told me he would always have my back, something we would always say to one another, and I never thought he would be mad enough to not want to be around me.

Just then, as if on cue, Lucas appeared from the kitchen wearing his pyjamas, holding a tray with muffins, and bagels and a two glasses of orange juice. I winced taking in the bruises that had appeared overnight.

Normally, I could tell exactly what he was thinking just from looking at his face, but now all I felt was distance, and couldn't even pick up one thought.

"Oh man, I didn't think it would be that bad, how're you doing?" Felix said.

"It's better than it looks, "Lucas said shrugging, then frowning as he realised it hurt to do that too.

"Just get some rest," Felix said.

"Will do, have a good trip," Lucas said, heading toward the stairs. He didn't even look at me once through that whole conversation, or say anything to be about the trip.

"You decided not to come?" I called after him, and he stopped.

"You don't need me there," he said in a matter of fact way, and I knew his words held a double meaning and as soon as he said them I felt a sharp pain in my stomach.

"Well you kids need to catch your flight. Felix, your mother said she would send a handler with you," My mom said, choosing to ignore the fact that me and Lucas were in the middle of a conversation as making sure there was someone with us to make sure we both followed through with this.

"Yes, Carlson is already in the car," Felix said.

"Fantastic. Well have a wonderful trip both of you," My Dad said before seeing us out the door.

I took one last look behind me , mentally begging Lucas to look at me, to tell me everything was ok between us, and everything would be ok, but he was too busy rearranging the items on his tray to look over at me.

Felix helped me into car, then while he was walking around, my Father walked out of the door, and over to the window.

"Brooke, if this doesn't go as planned, I will be so disappointed in you—" he started

"Dad—"

"Look, Brooke, nobody is forcing you to do anything, you can walk away any second."

Was he saying what I think he was saying? That I didn't have to go through with any of this? Then why had he been pushing so hard up until now?

"But don't expect there to be a place for you in this house," he said coldly before walking away. I gasped taking in the meaning of his words.

X x x x

Lucas POV.

I had fully forgotten about the trip until this morning, but I knew right away that the last thing I wanted to do was go with them. I was still mad at Brooke, and knew I couldn't handle being stuck with her inside a house, as huge as it was for a month and a half. I knew eventually I wouldn't angry at Brooke anymore, but I also knew that it wouldn't be the same between us again.

It would be good for her to go away for a while, and let everything here die down, and the revelation from last night turn into yesterday's news.

I was about to head upstairs again, to Haley, who was still asleep when Aunt Clarissa said "Is it really necessary to be consuming that amount of food?"

"I'm hungry," I told her shrugging, and avoiding telling her there was a girl asleep in my bed. She ignored my answer and walked upstairs.

"After I get home from work, we need to have a chat in my office about what to do about your behavioural issues," Uncle Michael said, walking back into the house from seeing Brooke off. Great, a long lecture was exactly what I wanted.

"Yes, sir," I said saluting him in a mocking way.

"Less of the back talk young man. You need to learn your actions will have consequences"

I wonder what he would say if I told him why my 'actions' took place, and it involved Nathan Scott and his little girl.

"Whatever," I mumbled, going upstairs.

At the top, before I could turn onto the left side landing to my room, Aunt Clarissa, walked out of her room , and over to me.

"Lucas, I can't seem to get this thing to stop ringing, and its giving me a headache," she said handing me Brooke's phone, before she went downstairs.

I pushed the button at the top to switch on the phone and saw she had seventeen missed calls just from this morning, from someone called Romelia. It didn't take a genius to figure out who that was. I can't believe even after last night he still didn't get the message to back off and stop screwing with her. I deleted the messages and wiped the frown off my face before going back in to wake up Hales.

X x x x x

Lucas POV

Soon after Haley went home, I lay by the pool, planning to stay there doing nothing all day, until I would be forced to get up when my Uncle got home for our little 'talk'.

A shadow was cast over me and I opened my eyes.

"Peyton?" I asked surprised. Surely she knew Brooke wasn't here. She was actually here when she was leaving. Even though we were all friends, Peyton and I rarely socialised alone outside of our group.

"Hey," she said, sitting on the lounger beside me.

"What's up?" I asked her, offering her a coke out of the cool box next to me.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about B," she said taking a long sip.

"Go on."

"She was saying some ridiculous things this morning, and she gave me a message to pass on, and I'm confused at what to do," she said.

"What did she say?" I said curious.

"She said she was in love with Nathan."

"What!" I said in shock. She had to be kidding me! Even after everything that happened she still thought she was in love with the guy Nathan was pretending to be with her. Had nothing that I had said to her last night gone into her brain? Or did she just not care?

"She wanted me to say something like ' In this time, in this place' to him," Peyton said with a puzzled look.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"That's exactly what I said. She obviously doesn't know what's good for her right now, and as her best friend, I feel like we should be looking out for her," she said, lying back on the recliner.

"And how do we do that?" I asked her.

"Well this trip will be a good time to get over Nathan and we should help him get over her too?" she said like a question. As much as I didn't want to get involved, I knew Brooke still needed someone to look out for her since she wasn't going to think rationally for herself, even if she just needed a little push in the right direction, which was the opposite way to wherever Nathan was.

"I like the way you think," I told her, raising my can to hers as we both knocked them together and took a sip.

X x x x x

Nathan POV

I was officially starting to reach rock bottom. I had been walking along the shops at The Square, hoping to see Brooke in one of them for the hour. I had walked around so many times now, even the dogs being walked, let alone their owners were starting to recognise me.

It still hadn't kicked in that Brooke had ended things. Yes, she's ended it a few times before for various reasons but this time, something told me it was more final. She wasn't mad at me because our relationship was built on the basis of a bet, in fact she believed that I was in love with her, and she loved me too. She broke up with me because of how hard staying together would be, and as far as I knew we weren't going to change who we were any time soon.

Part of me wished I had told her all about the bet from day one, but I knew if I had we wouldn't have even gotten past the first date. And even if we did, her decision about it being too hard was inevitable.

I had been trying to call her ever since she had hung up on me, to try and get her to change her mind but she wouldn't pick up her cell. Even know, in between looking into shop windows I was hitting the redial button.

I had been sent out of my house by the girls, who deemed me useless, and said I was getting in the way of them clearing up with my moping. Even the guys could see something was wrong with me.

I was just coming up to Slurpy's for the fifth time, when I saw that girl who was always with Brooke coming out. She probably knew where Brooke was. I could see Lucas sitting at the table the girl had just gotten up from with about three other people, and from the looks of it, he was just as bruised up as me. Now that I knew he was here, I knew Brooke hadn't gone on her trip since Lucas was supposed to go with her. They probably postponed it since Lucas was obviously recovering. At least now I knew she was around somewhere, and she wasn't totally unreachable.

She turned into the car park and I jogged to reach her before she drove off.

"Hey!" I called and she turned around.

"Hi," she said cautiously.

"Peyton right?" I asked her, and she nodded.

"I was wondering if you knew where I could find Brooke," I said, knowing there was a very small chance she would tell me, considering she looked like she hated my guts.

"First of all, I don't see why I should tell you anything after what you did, and secondly you should just leave her alone, you've already done enough!"

"Look, it's all just a huge misunderstanding! I just really need to see her."

"It doesn't matter anyway, she's not even in Tree Hill, she's gone on holiday with her fiancé."

"But I saw Lucas here." I said confused.

"Lucas? He was never going to go. Her parents wanted Lucas to go, but Brooke told them three's a crowd, and she's much rather spend some alone time with Felix."

"Brooke wanted to spend alone time with Felix? That doesn't sound like her," I said, knowing that's the last thing Brooke would want to do.

"Really? I saw her this morning before she left and she was pretty excited. She's been looking forward to this trip for weeks."

I felt a lump in my throat, as I realised Brooke was with Felix on the trip all alone. She was obviously happy to put our relationship behind her.

I suddenly felt like a complete idiot for sulking all morning, when Brooke was obviously happy to move on.

I made an excuse to Peyton and walked out of the parking lot, and out of The Square walking back toward my street, hoping the house would be empty, and my friends had finished with the clean-up and gone home. I was obviously grateful that I had such great friends, cleaning up my house after a party while I was out, but I didn't want to socialise right now.

I passed the beach on my way back to my house and deliberated between going home for a nap, or trying to clear my head with a walk along the shore. Snorting, I realised the latter option would just turn me into one of those douches from One tree hill− who, incidentally, had completely stolen the concept from Dawson's Creek. A walk always helps people think and deal with their feeling on tv but this was real life, so I headed to a bar. Getting pissed out of my mind seemed more appealing anyway. It was a good job; I knew exactly where to go that didn't have a problem serving minors.

**A/N: Not a lot happened in this chapter but so much happened at the same time! Let me know what you think!**


	31. Chapter 30

**.**

**Chapter 30-New friends and reverting to old ways**

"Well if you told Peyton to tell him, then why are you obsessing so much?" Felix said.

"Because I haven't spoken to him! I don't know if he even understood what I was trying to say in the message, it was pretty vague." I said.

"Trust me, after hearing you tell me about your last conversation about ten times, your message was anything but vague! He got what you meant!"

"But even if he did, I still don't know what to do!" I said whining in frustration that I was no closer to unscrambling my thoughts over my future with Nathan.

"I'm just saying, if you really like him, what's stopping you?" Felix said rolling the dice, and moving his chosen Monopoly piece, a navy ship, four spaces. Yes, this is what our days had been reduced to, trying to finish a Monopoly game that we had started three days ago.

"It's just too hard! And I'm so confused. I want to be with him, I do, but I can honestly say I have no vision of the future, or how we will ever be accepted," I whined, lying on my back, staring up at the ceiling.

"I think you're just being over dramatic, it's not that hard. If your friends don't accept your relationship, then who cares? It just means they were never your friends anyway."

"What about my parents?" I said sitting up and taking my turn.

"Oh, they'll be furious for sure," he said.

"Thanks, you're really helping," I said rolling my eyes.

"They'll just be disappointed a hot, sexy guy like me won't be joining your family," he said cockily.

"Talking of that, none of this matters if we don't get out of what our parents have planned for us," I said.

Felix sat up and sighed, and began talking in a more serious tone, leaving the jokes behind. "Well, I was thinking, and I think I finally have an idea."

"Really?" I said getting my hopes up.

"Well, first we have to make out—" he started.

"Why do all of your plans start like that!" I said annoyed, really thinking he was onto something.

"I'm just kidding! But seriously, I do have an idea. We talked about the consequences if we say no to them. Both of our parents threatened to cut us off and kick us out right?"

I nodded, getting upset all over again at my Dad's final words. I couldn't believe that he had actually told me if I didn't go through with this, I had no place in our family anymore. When he said it, he seemed like a different person, not my Daddy who I had been so close to when I was young.

"Now, you don't have any money saved up right?" he asked me, and I shook my head. There had never been any need to save any money before. I had everything I needed at the other end of my limitless American Express card.

"And if they kicked you out, do you have any place to live?" he asked. I shook my head again. Even though I could stay at Peyton's for a while, or at any of my other friends places for a few days, I couldn't look at that as a stable long term solution. And plus, I still had school, and I had to think about after I graduate what would I do. I assume me being cut off included college tuition.

"I could probably crash at one of my parents houses for a few weeks, without them realising until I found something. And as far as money goes, I can figure something out. I have some collectables that I could probably sell to get some quick cash," he said.

"What are you saying?" I said confused. As far as I could tell he was just pointing out the bleak situation that we would both be in.

"I'm saying, I could tell my parents it was my idea and I don't want to go through with it. That way your parents can't be mad at you, because it wasn't your fault and only one of us goes down."

"Felix, I can't let you do that for me!" I said. He would be losing just as much as I would be in the same situation.

"It's ok, I would be better off than you if you got cut off—"

"Yeah, for about a few weeks, then what do you do when your parents find out you're staying in one of their properties? And that money isn't going to last you forever."

"But Brooke, you'd have literally nothing. We have no other way to get out of this!"

"Felix, I think it's really sweet of you to offer, but I can't let you do that. We're in this together, and we'll get out of this together." I said reaching over and squeezing his hand.

When we had left for this trip, I had been dreading spending all that time with Felix. Even after we made a sort of truce at the party, I wasn't naïve enough to believe everything would be peachy. I at least expected some awkward silences and endless time on our hands. Endless time on our hands, yes there was, but there weren't many awkward silences. Strangely, me and Felix had a lot in common, and I found it easy to talk him, which reminded me of Lucas, and made me miss him all the more. After the first two days, the arrogance, and cockiness that usually was Felix fell away, and we started to make the most of a difficult situation. We had even had discussions about me and Nathan. He didn't judge me how Peyton and Lucas had but actually gave me advice. He was turning out to be an ok friend. If anybody had told me last month that me and Felix would be friends, I would have told you that there must have been a gun pointed to my head.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"I am."

"Thank god! What you see right here," he said gesturing to himself, "This doesn't just happen! There's no way I'd be able to look this great on a budget!" But I knew he was only kidding around and meant what he said.

"Shut up! I said laughing.

"Well, the offer still stands," he said in a serious tone, giving me a weak smile.

"Hey Felix?" I said looking through the discarded boxes of games on the floor, having had enough of Monopoly for the day.

"Yeah?"

"If you ever wanted to call me B, that would be ok," I said.

"Oh really?" he said laughing, "I knew you would give in! I recall you saying only people you stand can call you that, does that mean I pass the test?"

"Don't push it!"

There was a soft knock on the big wooden door, and we put our banter aside to see Bernard, the elderly Butler, one of the only living people besides us and the cook for miles, walk into the room.

"There are guests, wishing to speak with you both. They're in the drawing room."

"Guests?" Felix and I both said at the same time, surprised. In the two weeks that we had been here, we hadn't heard from anybody.

Felix stood up, and straightened his clothes. "I guess we should go see," he said.

I nodded and got up, intrigued. As much as I hoped it was somebody from back home, I don't think my parents would give our location away to any of my friends, let alone Nathan. But there was a small chance, Lucas wasn't mad at me anymore and they would let him come and see me. I still felt terrible about the way we had left things, and wished I had apologised again before we had left, instead of letting him continue ignoring me.

We walked into the room opposite the one we had been in, and saw the guests. Needless to say, it wasn't Lucas.

X x x x x x x

Nathan POV

"Where the hell have you been all day?" My Dad yelled bursting through the living room doors before I could even close the front door.

"Dan! Just wait, at least give him a chance to—" My Mom said running after him.

"Ok, fine," he said crossing his arms, "Where did you spend your day son?" he said in a strained angry voice.

"I had a few beers on the beach," I said like it was no big deal, and choosing not to hide the fact I hadn't been to school.

"You were drinking!" My mom said, no longer keeping calm and adding her own anger to my Dad's pot. "And is that cigarette smoke I smell?"

"Yeah," I said shrugging. I took of my jacket and hung it up in the hall and started up the stairs.

"Nathan, don't walk away when we're talking to you. I thought we were done with all of this! Why on earth would you start smoking again, and thinking drinking alcohol was ok?" she said. I saw the hurt in her eyes, that were a permanent feature back in New York, and I felt bad for a nano second, but any thoughts of remorse were quickly pushed away.

"Since I decided it was my life and I could do whatever the hell I wanted," I said without any emotion.

"Don't speak to your mother like that!" My Dad shouted.

"Whatever," I muttered.

"Look, sweetie whatever you're going through we can talk about this. I thought we were through with all of this. Your school called today to say you weren't in school—" she said, choosing to ignore my rudeness.

"Technically I did go to school," I said correcting her.

"Yes, but you walked out of your English class without a word!" My Dad said.

"Actually I did say 'screw this' before I walked out," I calmly.

My Mom said something incoherent before sinking onto one of the steps, giving up. It hurt me to see her like this but I had learnt in the last couple of weeks that people hurt each other all the time, it was the way the world worked. If nobody else gave a crap, why should I?

My Dad walked over to comfort her, "Dan, what have we done wrong? I don't understand, I thought everything would be ok, once we moved here, and it was," she said as if I wasn't even in the room.

He led her into the living room, and closed the door behind her, then turned back to me.

"I don't even know what to say to you," he said, in a completely calm tone, with no anger at all. "Nathan, don't you see how much this is affecting your mother? How much it's affecting your whole family? After you snapped at Izzie yesterday, she didn't even come downstairs this morning until you had left for school! You were doing so well since we've moved back to Verone! I thought you understood—"

I couldn't listen to this anymore. The mention of me upsetting Izzie yesterday had brought on a wave of guilt. She had come into my room, to see if I wanted to play on the Wii with her and I had yelled at her to get out because she was wasting my time. I had never spoken to her like that, even when I went through a bad phase toward the end of the first time we were living in Verone and in New York. Izzie was my soft spot, and I always made time for her. Her big eyes just filled with tears and she left the room. I hadn't seen her since last night. I didn't want to think she was purposefully avoiding me.

I walked back down the stairs and picked out my car keys.

"Don't go anywhere! We need to talk about this!" he said, but I completely ignored him, walking out the front door and to my car, not forgetting to slam the door on my way out.

At first I didn't know where to go. I drove to an empty parking lot and lit up a cigarette. By the time, it was finished I knew exactly where to go. I drove to my destination and got out of the car and up to the front door, ringing the doorbell insistently.

The door flew open and the person behind it looked surprised. I hadn't seen them for weeks, ever since the night of the joint NCP-THS party at my house.

"Oh….Hi," They said cautiously.

I responded by crashing my lips to her's hungrily. She was still, in shock not kissing me back yet. She pushed my shoulders away and looked at me with confusion.

"I don't understand?" she said.

Instead of making any attempt to say anything I kissed her again. Rachel quickly caught on and stopped asking any questions and kissed me back just as enthusiastically, pulling me further into the house, and kicking the door shut behind us.

**A/N: Don't kill me for the last bit! Tell me what you think! I literally live for reviews nowadays since my real life is getting me down…Love you all.x**


	32. Chapter 31

Chapter 31 Reality Check.

"Mother? Father? I wasn't expecting you," Felix said.

"Me neither," I said addressing my own parents who were sitting on the settee next to Felix's parents. Apart from a business like phone call to check our arrival, I hadn't spoken to my parents since I had left. They had probably come to check our 'progress.'

"Well we weren't planning to come, we actually need to talk to the two of you," Felix's Mom said. "Please sit down."

Me and Felix both sat down on the sofa stools opposite them, confused.

"The four of us had dinner last night, and we realise we had been going about this the wrong way," Felix's Dad said. "We never should have pushed you to be together for the sake of our companies if you weren't happy. Especially by threatening to cut the two of you off."

My mouth opened in shock at what he had just said and when I looked over at Felix, his expression mirrored mine perfectly.

"I don't understand," Felix said.

"The four of us still think this is the right thing to do, and one day you'll understand, but right now you're both in high school. You don't understand any of this, or the security you will want later in life. We're willing to reconsider putting this off until after college," My Dad said, and all three of the other parents nodded along in agreement.

"So what if after college, we still don't want to go through with being together? Are you just going to threaten to cut us off then?" Felix asked bitterly.

"We have your best interests at heart, and we know now that we were going about it all wrong. Felix, we don't want to be the type of parents to blackmail our children into doing what we want," she said looking ashamed. "We're sorry! There is no way we could ever cut you off, and remove you from out house! We love you," Felix's Mom said, and his Dad nodded. His mother began crying, obviously feeling bad and Felix got up to hug her.

After hearing what she said, I looked over to my own father who had threatened me with the same, but he had a cold, blank look on his face, not offering up his own apology, and I tried not to care.

"So what now?" I managed to squeak out, trying to figure out what our parents came here for. I doubted they would come just for Felix's parents to apologise to him. "We don't have to go to Yale?" I asked, making sure I fully understood.

Felix's Dad hesitated for a second, but after his Mom nudged him, he said, "Not if you don't want to."

"But what about the companies?" I asked. All this year my parents had been going on about the importance of our companies joining together, and now they were so quick to say it didn't matter. It just seemed too good to be true, like they had something else planned.

"Our companies can still do business," Felixs Dad said, "But it would be difficult to merge them with the problem of who would be in charge after our retirement. We both agree that we want to keep our companies in the family."

"So you will all be fully content if me and Brooke decide not to be together? Even after college?" Felix asked double checking, like me he obviously thought this was all like a dream.

"Well, the best thing for the future of Davis Enterprises and Taggaro Arbitrations would be to combine into one company, with the _two_ of you in charge."

"But then why can't that still happen even if we're not a couple?" Felix asked.

"It's just a more secure partnership, and will protect both families in going into this business together, so we all come out a winner, and neither family gets the short end of the stick."

"So what're you saying? Do you want to join the businesses and want us to be together or not?"

"If we go ahead with all of this we want it to be because you both want it too." My Dad said.

"The only way this business merger will work is if you're both just as positive about it as we are. After all you will soon be learning the ropes and one day it will all be up to you." Felix's Dad said.

"Now, we're going to go back home. We're going to leave one car here, and when you both decide, we'll see you at home." They said standing up.

"Actually, before we go, Brooke if we could have a word?" My mom said and I nodded. Both my parents and I walked out of the room into the hallway leaving Felix's family inside. I was wondering when this was coming, both of my parents being strangely quiet inside, and it wasn't like them to leave without the last word.

"Brooke, the whole reason I started Davis Enterprises in the first place was so you, Lucas and your Mother could all have the best, and I'm not going to take it all away from you over something like this." My Dad said. I knew this was his version of an apology. This was as good as it was going to get.

"However—" My Mom butted in. "We still feel like it's the right thing to do, whether it happens now or after college."

There it was. I knew they couldn't change their minds about something so quickly. They obviously wanted to look like they fully agreed that it was ultimately our choice in front of Felix's parents but they still wanted this as much as they did before I had left.

Evidently, from seeing Felix's parents, as well as Nathan's not all parents in our social circle were as cut off from feelings toward their children as mine were. I guess I just got lucky.

It was hard to believe these were the same two people that had raised me from a young age. Before they had started up the company and Dad started spending more time at work than with us, pushing a wedge between the family, we were all so close. My Mom had started becoming more and more distant and lonely until staying at home with us kids all day wasn't enough for us. The new amount of money being deposited into our bank accounts was all new and exciting, and both my parents got caught up in that, until my mother spent more of her time at the country club and with her new friends, and me and Lucas being left at home with Ada became a regular occurrence.

"Now go inside and talk to Felix about your future," My Dad said. I nodded and walked back into the room, closing the door behind me. A few seconds later I heard the front door close.

Me and Felix both remained sitting down, both lost in our own thoughts.

We both sat in the room for about five minutes before Felix spoke.

"Jules, I am going to be honest with you. I like you. I have since we first met. I'm not in love with you yet, but it wouldn't be impossible for me to be in the future. I'm not ready for this all right now but I could be after college. When I look forward I see myself in my Dad's company anyway and if I'm beside you doing it, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. And if this is what we end up doing, we could build up our relationship and really make a life for ourselves," he said.

I didn't know what to say.

"But I also think you should do what your heart is telling you, and if you think he can give you a better life, then with him is where you should be," We both knew the 'he' Felix was referring to.

Even though our parents had agreed to lay off with pushing me and Felix together for now (which was a huge step forward), even though they expected us to start things up after college. I knew that didn't mean they would suddenly accept me and Nathan being together. They still hated Nathan's parents and their company. And Lucas was still no closer, as far as I knew to accepting us, but I knew even though I might turn out to have a good life with Felix in the future, and I could see us being good friends. I knew when it came to visualising my future, I didn't know what I wanted yet, but whatever it was I wanted it to be for me, and because of that my parents were the last thing on my mind. Since the last conversation I had had with them, I could care less what they thought right this second. Technically they said I didn't have to be with Felix now, just as long as we got together after college. They just didn't need to know that would never happen.

"Felix…" I started.

"It's ok," he said smiling and I nodded and smiled, grateful for everything Felix had done for me the last few weeks.

"On the bright side, you can go to that music school now," he said, then taking in my blank look, "That is what you want isn't it?"

"I guess," I said.

"Well, while you think that over, what do you say we go ask Bernard for some snacks for the road?"

X x x x x x x x x

Jake POV

I let myself into Nathan's house using the key that Aunt Karen had given my Mom. Downstairs was pin drop silence, and there was no sign of anybody living here apart from the random beer bottles, and take out containers scattered along the living room.

I had barely seen Nathan for the last couple of weeks. On the rare occasion he was at school he was either walking out of class or being sent out. I had no idea what had gotten into him, but I was worried about my cousin and best friend. Something must have triggered the change in Nathan because from what I knew, he had returned to his normal self, if not an even better behaved version than before.

I let myself into his room without knocking and if I thought downstairs was a mess, this was worse. There was beer bottles scattered around everywhere and random dishes with cigarette butts.

Nathan walked in through the open balcony doors in his underwear, looking emotionless. I was about to lay into him when Rachel walked in behind him, dressed in a white sheet wrapped around herself. Standing in front of the balcony daylight, the sheet kept little to the imagination. I forced myself not to look at her, or even think about her and focus on Nathan. She wasn't my reason for being here. She should be happy, she finally got what she wanted: Nathan.

"Hey," she said in a high pitched voice. I knew her well enough to know it was her nervous voice. I hadn't spoken to her since the night at the party when I had blown her off, and didn't intend to now. I nearly approached her at school a couple of times, since I didn't only miss the girl I liked but also my best friend, but now that I saw she was finally with the guy she wanted, making nice with her after she used me for all these years was far from my mind. I knew Nathan didn't actually have romantic feelings for her, and was probably sleeping with her to make himself feel better about whatever he was going through, and on instinct I felt protective of her and mad that she was being used like that, but then I remembered that was practically what she was doing to me and I didn't care so much anymore.

"Rachel," I said curtly, then turned my attention back to Nathan.

"I should probably go—" she said picking up her jeans from the floor and other discarded pieces of clothing as she walked through the room. She attempted to put on the jeans with only the use of one hand since the other was busy holding up the sheet, but it was either the tense silence of the room containing the guy she used to sleep with and the guy she was currently sleeping with , or the fact that it was proving to be a difficult task, but she soon gave up and held the clothes in one hand and left the room mumbling about going to the bathroom, instead of trying to hop around any longer. In any other situation it would have been amusing to watch her attempt but nobody in the room was in the mood for laughing.

"So what the hell do you think you're doing?" I said.

"What am I doing?"

"Being a complete idiot!"

"Whatever," he said pulling on his jeans.

"Do you really think drinking and smoking and sleeping around is going to help you in any way with what is wrong?"

"Don't you have anything better to do than to come check on me because your Mommy told you to?" he said turning his TV on.

I walked over to the TV and turned it off at the screen.

"Fine, be like that, I couldn't give a crap if you want to act like an ass, but think about everyone else that you're hurting too! Your parents have no idea what to do with you! Your Mom came to my Mom yesterday crying before she left! Izzie is completely withdrawn at my house!—" I said referring to the fact that Nathan's parents had to go to New york for the weekend for work, and usually they would leave Izzie with Nathan without question but this time it wasn't even an option and they had left her with her Aunt Janine, my Mom at my house. Normally she was a loud, happy little girl but Nathan's behaviour had obviously had an effect on her because she had been extremely quiet and kept to herself all weekend.

"Iz is at your house?" Nathan said, looking more alert than he had since I walked in.

"Where else would she be? She had to stay in Tree Hill, she has school." I said, proving my point that he had been completely cut off, and not even been paying attention to the whereabouts of his sister.

"And you said she's upset?" he said. He was giving me his full attention now, and I felt relief that I was getting through to him.

"She's just confused Nate, she missed you," I told him, and he sighed.

"She shouldn't feel like that, it's not her fault," he said.

"Then whose fault is it? Don't push us away Nate, we're just trying to help you. You've been acting off ever since Rachel told Bro—" I started but stopped, realising the significance of what I had just said.

"Brooke?" I asked him, trying to process it. He just nodded.

"Brooke Davis?" I said, double checking.

"Yes! How many Brookes do you know?" he said, irritably.

"So what, you like her? Is that it? And now she won't talk to you?"

"Yes, I like her, I freaking love her, do you have a problem with that?" he said defensively.

After what I had been through with Rachel the last couple of months, it didn't seem so important anymore to disapprove of a relationship between Nathan and Brooke, just of the fact that I didn't get along with her friends. Sure I was surprised, but I would be lying if I said I cared enough to break them up.

"No, I don't have a problem."

"You don't?" he asked confused.

"So what, you started liking her after spending time with her," I said, sitting down on a swivel chair.

"I guess I liked her from the start," he said shrugging.

"Well then, go for it man."

He looked at me shocked. "You're not going to get mad or anything?"

"Well regardless how it happened, we still got to throw Lucas's face in your relationship and that was pretty amusing," I said smiling thinking back, "but one thing I do know, don't let any worry over if anybody gets mad, stop you from being with her."

"Thanks man," he said but his face fell, "But even though I want to be with her, she doesn't want to be with me right now."

"Because she didn't know about the bet," I said to myself.

"That and some other stuff," he said.

"Well, stop moping about and get off your ass and go straighten out the 'stuff'" I told him. At least it would work out for one of us.

"I can't. She's out of town with her fiancé."

"Shit, man. I'm sorry," I said, feeling bad for him.

"If I hadn't come up with the plan to get to Lu—" I started. I felt bad at the thought that I might have been the one to screw this up for him.

"No, it's not your fault, I should have told her. And other than that, she's just thinks it's too hard to be together," he said looking crestfallen.

"Look, I'm only going to say this once, then we're going to go back to acting like two guys," I said, " but if you love her and she loves you, then don't let anything get in your way because for both of you to feel the same way and be in this together, it's a rare thing. She thinks it's too hard to be together? Then make her see nothing in life's easy and you can fight for it together," I said quickly in one breath.

"Wow," he said.

"Yeah, that was me being deep," I said smiling.

"You're right," he said and I could see he had a million thoughts running through his head.

"Of course I'm right. But you can't do that sitting around here, skipping school and sleeping with Rachel. You need to get your shit together man."

"Thanks Jake," he said with a weak smile. I visibly see his attitude had changed. "What you said before about it being a rare thing to both be in it together?"

"Yeah," I said getting up and picking up my keys from the table I had put them down on.

"You weren't just saying that were you," he said.

I looked up at him meeting his eyes.

"Rachel?" he asked.

"Who else would it be that would make our lives more complicated?" I said trying to make a joke out of the situation.

"I'm sorry man, I didn't realise," he said, feeling bad about sleeping with her and then parading it around in front of me.

"No, it's ok, technically she was yours first—"

"Yeah but we both know she was never 'mine'" he said raising his eyebrows in a suggesting way.

"But she's not 'mine' either," I told him.

"I'm sorry Jake," he said.

"Don't be, I'm glad you slept with her, she got what she wanted, and I got the reality check I needed. Anyway, I need to go pick up your sister from Ballet," I said, not wanting to dwell on Rachel for much longer.

"Can I go?" he asked cautiously.

"You gonna be ok?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just need to make things right with Iz," he said.

"Ok. You go get Iz, then come over to ours for dinner," I told him and he nodded.

"Jake?" Nathan called as I stepped out the door.

"Yeah."

"Thanks," he said nodding. "You're a good friend. So you're sure you're ok with me and Brooke?"

"Well I'm not saying I'm ever going to be BFF's with Lucas, but when it comes down to the two of you, it's all good."

X x x x x x x x

**A/N: so I had a really suckish night, and it would really make me feel better if I got some reviews, especially since I updated instead of getting into bed ^^**


	33. Chapter 32

**A/N: Now this is my favourite chapter by far, and I didn't expect to love writing from Rachel's POV so much but I did! **

**Now I hate to sound mean, but I have exams in 2-3 weeks and the last thing I have time to do it update! So I really need to get some reviews to be able to justify writing right now. If I get more than 4 I'll update, but otherwise, I will see you all after May which is when my exams end! Love you all!**

**ALSO FOR ALL YOU TWITTER FREAKS OUT THERE PLEASE READ THE BOTTOM A/N!**

**Chapter 32- time to make things right.**

Even though many people would probably say otherwise, I'm not an idiot. I knew Nathan didn't love me. And I knew the last few weeks had just been meaningless sex to him. I wasn't deluded enough to think he had suddenly realised the error of his ways and fallen in love with me. I also wasn't stupid enough to think the timing was a coincidence between Nathan changing his mind and me ruining things between him and Brooke, so I knew he probably wished it was her who he spent his nights with, not me.

It just wasn't meant to be this way. Nathan was supposed to come back to Tree Hill, and be my boyfriend and then I would really have everything, the looks, the money, and my position as head cheerleader (which inevitably came with the popularity). And the groups Alpha male should be with the Alpha Female right? Right? The idea had been suck in my mind so long, and I had been fighting for it all to work out, that somewhere along the line I had convinced myself that it was what I wanted.

The moment Nathan had rejected me in his kitchen, it had knocked me because being rejected wasn't something I was used to, and I had been mad knowing that of all people it was Brooke Davis who had one over on me. He wasn't supposed to actually fall in love with her, it was all meant to be a plan. At the time I was mad that she had what I was convinced should have been mine. So I went back to my safety net, the one guy who always made me feel special and when he had rejected me too, two rejections in one day, combined with the excessive amount of alcohol in my system had caused me to ruin things for everyone else, namely Brooke and Nathan. If I couldn't be happy, why should they? ….Right?

The night before the joint after party at the basketball game, the conversation that I had overheard during half time in the hallway after coming out of the bathroom became handy. Overhearing Brooke and Nathan's conversation about their plans for that night gave me the knowledge I needed to really push Brooke over the edge and really make her believe Nathan wasn't into her from the start. And from her reaction when I mentioned about her being a virgin, I knew it had worked. But seeing the process of her breakdown right in front of me didn't feel as good as I imagined it would, and saying it didn't bring Nathan back to me either.

I wasn't totally deluded. I knew what I had done was wrong which I could see from the hurt coming from her, and the look on everybody else's face. So there I was hiding away from the rest of the group in embarrassment staying within the confines of my house for a few days, knowing I had royally messed up, when the last person I had expected to turn up on my doorstep did. At the time, the only feeling running through my body was ecstasy as I believed everything had worked itself out.

If I look back now, I could be honest and pin point the exact moment when I realised something was off: The second he put his lips onto mine in the doorway of my house. But I had pushed any doubt to the back of my mind, convinced that this was what I wanted, and it had been a while since I had been with Nathan and any uncertainty I was feeling would disappear when we got back into the swing of things. By the second day, in fact by the first night, I knew it wasn't a case of getting used to things, and by then I just hoped Nathan would realise I was what he wanted. Back then I thought he would have to get his feelings in check because it takes two to tango, but what I didn't realise was neither of us were doing the dance.

When I did realise that maybe it was me that didn't have any real romantic feelings for Nathan, I tried to ignore the nagging voice in my mind, trying to overwrite it with my constant reassurance that this is what I wanted.

When Jake walked into Nathan's room, I instantly felt bad, as if I should be feeling guilty for something. We weren't an item, so really I should have no reason to be ashamed to be caught by Jake, dressed in a sheet, not leaving to the imagination what activity me and Nathan had been taking part in.

If you told me a few months ago that I would be saying this now, I would probably have had you committed to the nearest hospital, but here I am saying 'sleeping with Nathan was starting to feel like a chore', so it wasn't like I was enjoying it while I tried to think about my feelings.

I had just gotten home from leaving Nathan's after Jake had arrived, and was trying to find a good enough excuse to get out of meeting up with Nathan tonight when the doorbell rang, and for the second time in the last couple of weeks, I was surprised to see Nathan there.

He looked visibly better than I had seen him in the last couple of weeks. It looked like he had taken a shower and cut his hair since I had left his house about an hour ago. I immediately felt a pang of regret of not making sure he was ok earlier. It was clear something was bothering him while he was with me, but I had chosen to ignore it. Nathan was my friend and I should have put that before anything else. Jake had obviously done the right thing and said something to him whilst he was over that made him feel better. Jake was always there for everyone. He made out he didn't care about other people, but he was always there for all his friends whenever they needed him, like the time he stayed up with me all night to help me study for my calculus final even though he had a basketball game the next morning, and the time he stayed with me just because I didn't want to be alone when my parents were going through their divorce.

"Hey," I said, not knowing what else to say. He was standing by the front shifting his weight from either foot. He looked nervous.

He said hello back and I led him out to the deck. We both sat in silence. He was playing with the clasp on his watch and I was pushing down my cuticles. We were behaving like strangers; you never would have guessed we were the same two people who were engaging in very friendly activities just a few hours ago.

"So—" I started at the same he said , "Rachel—"

We both stopped at hearing the other start talking.

"You go first," he said.

I didn't know where to start but I knew I had to go through with this. This is the last thing I ever thought I would be doing.

"Nathan. I care about you a lot—" I began.

"Rachel—"he said stopping me and sitting up.

I put my hand up to gesture for him to stop and let me speak. I knew if I stopped now there was a big chance I would finish. He nodded and meekly sat back in his chair.

"Like I was saying, I care about you a lot. We've been friends since we were toddlers," I said smiling, "and we're great together, we make a pair of friends, but I don't think we're doing the right thing by being together as a couple," I said then held my breath.

"You don't?" he said with a shocked look on his face.

"I thought this was what I wanted, hell I've wanted it for so long, and when you came back I didn't give myself a minute to think about if it was still what I wanted. And I know it's not what you want." I said looking down. I knew I wasn't who he wanted, and I knew he was using me to get over something, or someone namely Brooke , I was guessing, but I couldn't do this anymore, I would only be hurting myself in the end.

Nathan sat forward again and took one of my hands.

"I'm so sorry," he said.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, I'm a big girl, you didn't force me to be with you. And let's face it, you probably wouldn't have been in this mess if I hadn't spilled the beans," I said feeling bad.

"Well if you didn't say something, she would have still found out somehow and it wasn't your fault I got into this plan with the boys in the first place," he said

I nodded and smiled.

"Well if it's any consolation, I think she really likes you," I said.

"If I haven't screwed it up already," he said.

"Just talk to her."

"Thanks Rach," he said. "You're a good friend."

I smiled softly.

"You'll find the guy you're meant to be with," he said and I could tell he really meant it.

We both stood up and he walked to the other side of the table and he gave me a hug.

"He might be closer than you think," he said and kissed the top of my head before he left.

X x x x x

Jake POV

I walked up to the front door balancing the box of decorations my Mom had given me to drop off to Mrs Gatina. My Mom was planning a surprise birthday party for my Dad and Mrs Gatina agreed to keep all the supplies for the party at her house so the surprised wasn't ruined if my Dad stumbled across anything.

I couldn't reach the doorbell with the big box in my hands and was about to set it down when I noticed the side gate open, and walked over to it letting myself in. I had practically spent half my childhood at the house since I was young, and letting myself into their house uninvited was like second nature to me, so I knew it wasn't a problem.

"Hello?" I called walking through the gate into the garden. I was hoping that only Mrs Gatina would be home and I wouldn't have to encounter Rachel. It was terrible seeing her this morning at Nathan's but seeing her in her own house was worse in a way. We had spent countless hours together in her house, but now I just felt a different vibe radiating the walls. Also before at Nathan's my attention had been on him, but I would have no choice but to talk to her in her own house especially if she was the only one home.

As soon as I got home and mentioned to my Mom that I no longer had to go and pick up Izzie, she had sent me over here, and I couldn't very well tell her why I didn't want to go. So my aim was to get in, drop the box and get out.

I was about to head over to the back door when I noticed Rachel sitting on the huge stone bolder at the end of the garden. Me and Rachel had always loved the huge rock and had been fascinated with it since we had been young. We used to have picnic's on it, and study on it , and on more than one occasion just lay out on it, watching the night whilst talking. We had had every meaningful conversation we had ever had on that rock. I had never seen her crying on it though, and as much as my head told me to ignore her and go into the house in search of her mother, I couldn't help but go over.

My shadow cast over her and she stopped crying and she quickly dried her tears before turning around to see who was there.

She visibly relaxed seeing it was only me, then as though she remembered what had gone on between us recently, her face changed to confusion and another emotion I couldn't read.

"Are you ok?" I said unable to stop myself. Even though she had stopped shedding tears her eyes were still glassy and were reflecting the moon light. Her hair was in a mess and she wasn't wearing any makeup, a rare occurrence. Her innocence shone out and she looked younger than she normally did, showing her vulnerability. The only other time I had ever seen her like this was when he parents split up. I repeatedly told myself I didn't care, but I couldn't very well just leave her outside by herself when something was obviously wrong with her. I would ask to be polite then excuse myself and leave, I tried telling myself again.

"I'm fine, Nathan and me just broke up," she said, then added as an afterthought, "Although I don't think we had anything to break up."

Oh, so that was what she was upset about. Nathan had come over already and told her he wasn't interested. Well obviously she would be upset considering all she ever wanted was to be Nathan's girlfriend , if you could even call what she was that, and now it was over. I just didn't think it would affect her this badly.

"Oh, Nathan told you he was bored of sleeping with you?" I said spitefully, unable to stop myself. No matter how much I though she deserved, after seeing the shattered look on her face I regretted saying it.

"No, actually I broke up with him," she said shrugging.

"You did?" I said shocked. That's the last thing I ever thought would happen.

She nodded, her eyes stuck on the rock she was sitting on. I set down the box on the floor and sat down next to her, not quite touching. So much for going in, dropping the box and getting out. The small space between us felt like we were sitting a mile apart.

"Why would you do that?" I asked. This is what she had wanted all along, and the whole reason that 'we' wouldn't work. I had to know the reason good enough that made me give it all up.

X x x x x

Rachel POV

I didn't have the energy to make something up, and I was sure I had exceeded my limit of feeding Jake crap lately.

"It just wasn't right," I said shrugging. "I thought it was what I wanted but none of it felt right. Me and Nate are better off as friends."

"Maybe it is what you want, maybe you just think it feels wrong because Nathan wasn't into it," he said.

I immediately shook my head. "No, it wasn't that. It was definitely me. I think I liked the idea of me and Nathan more than I liked me and Nathan actually together."

"Well if the ball was in your court, why are you so upset?" he said, and I internally rolled my eyes at the basketball analogy. Any chance those boys get!

"I don't know. I'm not upset that I'm not with Nathan, I'm just upset about where I am right now," I said, trying to make my feelings into words.

"You're not making sense," he said confused.

"I'm just mad that I've wasted some much time hell bent on getting together with Nathan. And now that it's all over, I don't know where I stand. For so long everything has revolved around my 'big plan' for myself," I said. After Nathan had gone, I felt relieved but lost within myself. I was also mad at myself for ignoring what was right under my nose the whole time. I would be lying if I said I had never felt anything for Jake all these years, but I know now that I had been repressing anything I did feel and now it was all coming back and the intensity of my feelings really hit me.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," he said in a humouring tone, and I could tell he thought I was the poor little popular girl who was now seeing outside her little bubble. In a way yes that was true, but it was more than that.

"Anyway I have to go," he said jumping off the bolder and picking up the box he came in with.

"Your Mom..?" he said nodding to the box.

I vaguely recalled my Mom telling me about Mrs Jagielski coming to drop over some things for her husband's birthday party.

"Oh right. She's out with Amanda, you can just leave it here, I'll take it in," I said thinking of how out of it was and vaguely remembering my Mom leave with my sister.

He placed it on the floor, and then didn't quite know what to do with himself.

"So I guess I should…." He said tilting his head toward the gate. He didn't wait for me to say anything but began to leave.

"Jakey!" I called after him. I was still feeling daring like earlier and knew it was now or never.

I saw him tense at the use of his nickname, before he turned around.

Now that I could see him straight on, I didn't know how I could even begin what I wanted to say.

It turns out I didn't have to elaborate because he took one look at my pleading face and knew something along the lines of what I wanted to say. I saw the recognition pass on his face before his expression changed to annoyance.

"Oh for god's sake Rachel! You have to be kidding me!" he yelled.

"Jake." I said trying to console him.

"You don't even know what else to say do you? I can't believe you even have the nerve to try it on!" he said, not lowering his voice at all.

"Try what on? And have the nerve to say what? That I have feelings for you? And I think I love you?" I said, confused at the way he was acting.

"You don't love me Rachel!" he threw his hands in the air and began pacing.

"Yes I do!" I said, my tone matching his, trying to convince him of it. This was the last way I expected him to act. I knew I didn't deserve for expect him to be ecstatic that I finally returned his feelings and then fall into my arms but I didn't expect him to get angry with me.

"No you don't! You're just being typical Rachel! You're doing what you did when Nathan left all those years ago and what you did after he rejected you after you took your fucking clothes off for him in his kitchen all over again! You only think you love me because you don't have Nathan anymore! Well I'm sick and tired of being your consolation prize!"

"It's not like that! I do love you! I just didn't realise it until I …..lost you." I said, my voice returning back to its normal tone, when I said the last two words, realising them myself then and there.

I had been feeling lost ever since I had had the argument with Jake back at the party. Normally I would spend a lot of free time I had with Jake just hanging out but since we had our falling out I felt like something had been missing.

"Well your timing is pretty damn convenient isn't it? Just when you're all alone! God Rachel, you need to grow up!" For the last sentence he readopted his normal voice, and looked at me sympathetically and I felt my insides break.

Why couldn't I get my shit together at the right time! Now I had royally messed everything up and Jake had made it obvious there was no way he could just forget everything.

Now that I look back, Jake was the obvious choice. He was always there for me when I needed him, and he treated me like gold. Jake was always the one person who knew the real me and was able to look past the image I had built for myself. Why did I always ruin everything that mattered!

I couldn't help but restart my flow of tears. I covered my face with my hands in embarrassment. I heard Jake sigh then come and sit beside me.

"Rach…" he said but trailed off not quite knowing what to say.

I moved my hands and looked up at him. "I really screwed up didn't I?"

"I hate to say it but yeah you did," he said. He moved his hand toward my own, but then moved it away as if he changed his mind. I ignored his move and took his own hand in my own, and I took it as a good sign he didn't remove it. This was the most physical contact we had had for weeks.

"I just don't know what to do anymore. I know you don't believe me but I really love you Jake. I'm so sorry I didn't realise it sooner."

"I think you just need to spend some time of your own to realise what you really want," he said with a sigh, and I could tell he still believed I only wanted him because I didn't have Nathan.

"I know who I want," I said forcefully. "I want you."

"Yeah, I want you too Rachel but sometimes that's not enough."

I sharply looked up to him, hearing his words.

Almost in reply to my unasked question he said, "Look Rachel, I love you, I have since forever but I can't just forget everything that's happened. You may think you want me now but I don't ever want to feel like your second choice ever again."

I tensed up with frustration. I know I fully deserved what he was saying but hearing it voiced stung.

"You aren't my second choice and you never will be ever," I tried again, this time in a whisper.

"Right now Rachel, I'm not ready to take that chance," he said letting go of my hand, and my heart broke. This was it, it was all over. I had truly lost my best friend. I couldn't believe he actually admitted he didn't want to bet on me right now.

"So what, that's it? We both love each other but we aren't going to be together? That doesn't make any sense," I cried.

"I don't know what to tell you Rachel," he said shaking his head and it was then I realised how much I must have hurt him for him to put this wall up between us. He didn't deserve it, and I realised how selfish I had been. If I thought I was hurting it was nothing compared to him. I never wanted to be the cause of his pain again.

"So this is really it huh?"

"I don't know about the future, but for now I can't be in a relationship with you."

I stared ahead of my, unable to meet his eyes. What he said sounded like his final words and I knew he would get up and leave any second now. I few seconds later when I didn't hear any signs of him leaving I turned around and saw him lying backwards on the rock staring up at the sky.

"You're not leaving?" I asked.

"As much as I want to, you were always my friend first Rach and I'm not going to leave you here all alone," he said still looking upwards at the sky.

I fully understood his reasons for not wanting to be with me but I would never forgive myself if I didn't try one last time. I slowly moved toward him, making it obvious what I was about to do, and giving him plenty of time of move out of the way if he wanted to, but he didn't which I took as a good sign.

I moved my face closer to his and his eyes stayed open until the last possible second. I pressed my lips gently onto his and I felt the electricity fizzle through us. We had kissed many times before but this time it was different. It was gentle and innocent but it contained more feelings on both of our parts that ever before.

When I pulled away, he reached for my hand and took hold of it and through its squeeze I knew the kiss had meant a lot to both of us but it had changed nothing.

He gently tugged on my hand and I lay down beside him with my head on his chest, joining him in gazing at an unknown star.

I knew Jake would always be in my life, I didn't doubt that. We both meant too much to each other for that to happen. I knew it would take a lot more for us to be more than friends, but I could only hope. But for now I closed my eyes and savoured the moment, pretending that our conversation had gone down differently and we were together and we were happy, and everything would be ok.

X x x x

_**TWITTER**__**: So I got Twitter, and I want to set it up for me to post things about the story and my other stories on my fiction press account etc, but I have no idea what I'm doing…! Which totally sucks!, so if anyone is willing to help show me around and is there when I get stuck I would really appreciate that! My twitter name is blue5887, and as you will probably see there is nothing on there at all yet, so I need some help to spruce it up a tad! If any of you want to just start following me, that will also be good, as I'm planning to add all my stories up and put updates, questions, info, requests, competitions to be characters etc, It should be good. SO just to conclude, follow me and meanwhile I'll get it up and running and if anyone wants to help me do that, contact me!**_

**I think I'm officially in love with Rachel/Jake …it broke my heart a little to write this. I was reading it back when I finished and actually couldn't but go 'ahhhh…' out loud… Do you like them? **

**I didn't think I would but I loved writing Rachel's story and from her POV! I've been avoiding it until now but I couldn't get enough! My aim was for you guys to think she was a bitch and want her to die, then read a chap from her POV and like her….did it work?**

**Reviewwww**


	34. Chapter 33 Pt 1

Heyyyy! I know it's been a very long time, but I have been super busy with no time to even breathe! My exams are in a week so I am probably not going to get time to do this. If I get a lot of feedback then I'll try really hard to do it between breaks.

You can thank an anonymous reviewer called CC who asked me to update, which reminded me to do so. I was revising but was getting bored of it and wasn't fully concentrating and saw that review so thought….why not…?

CC- leave a name next time =] x

Chapter 33- Grudges

Lucas POV

"Mmnnn…this is nice," I said. I was lying on a sun lounger by the side of the pool with Haley lying against me, both of us with our eyes closed, taking in the sun. My fingers were absentmindedly playing with strands of her long hair.

"I know right," she replied, circling my knee with the pad of her thumb.

We both lay there enjoying the moment for a few more seconds before Chase coughed.

"Ahem...there are other people here you know," he said.

"Not that we're not enjoying the show," Skills inserted.

Haley immediately sat up, embarrassed. I pulled her back down to my side.

"Ignore them, this is just the closest Skills's gotten to getting any action this month," I said teasing, then added, "We weren't even doing anything."

"But I can practically feel the happiness radiating off the two of you. It's disgusting," he said. "How am I supposed to convince the ladies that we're better off just having sex and not having a relationship when I have you two, the poster couple for a relationship hanging around!"

"Don't listen to him, he's an idiot!" Peyton said flicking some ice water on Skills from her glass and he jumped up shrieking.

"I think it's sweet," Alex added from the other side of the pool.

Me and Haley had been unbelievably happy since we got back together a few weeks ago. That night we really made a breakthrough with each other, and I had been honest with her for the first time ever. We had spent every waking moment together, surprisingly not getting sick of each other yet. The group was more than happy to welcome her back into the gang and she was happy to be back.

"Sorry Skills, but you're going to have to deal with it, because it's not going to end any time soon," I said, pulling Haley down for a kiss. Normally she would stop me when we were in front of people but public displays of affection seemed to be growing on her. Mental note: I should take advantage of that.

We broke apart as the patio door flew open and Brooke came into view, suitcase in tow. Michel appeared out of nowhere and took it from her, taking her luggage back inside.

"B!" Peyton squealed, jumping up to hug her.

"Hey!" she said hugging Peyton. She looked around the back yard until her gaze fell on me. "Hey Luke."

"Hi," I mumbled whilst keeping my eyes glued to the pretend text message I was typing on my phone.

Even though I wasn't looking up, out of the corner of her eye I could see her face fall, and for a split second I felt bad just for making her feel bad.

"So I was wondering if we could maybe talk?" she said.

"I'm actually pretty busy," I said getting up and walking into the kitchen.

Even though I was considerably less mad at her than when she had left, I still wasn't ready to just forget the crap she pulled and act like everything was ok, because I was still upset she had lied to me the whole time. Every time I thought maybe there was a chance I could get over it, I would just think about what happened and get mad all over again.

From inside I could still hear the conversation outside.

"What're you doing back already?" Peyton said, ignoring what had just happened.

"Long story short, I don't have to be with Felix right now," she replied.

"Your loss! I still don't get why you were so eager to get rid of that hot piece of—Felix!" she said. I looked through the window and realised she changed adapted her sentence when she saw Felix appear through the gate.

"Hey Peyton, hey guys," he said, giving a little wave.

I was itching to find out what happened that meant they didn't have to be together, but I didn't want to be the one to address Brooke directly, and give in so soon.

"So what's going on? So the two of you don't have to go to Yale together or –" Chase started asking.

"Nope, it's all good," Felix said.

"For now," B added rolling her eyes.

"So I'm going to head home, I just wanted to come in and say hi, it was a long drive down," Felix said yawning.

"Great, can you give me a ride to Nathan's? My mom still has my car keys and she isn't home yet to give them back, "she said casually like it was no big deal. Everyone else in the garden except the two of them froze.

She had to be kidding me! I had to replay the conversation in my mind to make sure I had heard right. I saw red as the anger bubbled up inside of me and I stormed back into the garden.

"Are you fucking kidding me!" I yelled, and everyone looked at me shocked. They had never seen me this mad let alone with my anger directed toward B. She looked like a deer stuck in the headlights, and didn't say anything.

"After everything that's happened, you're still going back to… him," I said with distaste, unable to say his name. "Did nothing I said to you make any sense in your head at all?"

"Lucas…" Chase said, trying to get me to calm down.

"It's not like that with us, it's not what you all think, it was all a misunderstanding—" she started.

"Look sweetie, I think what Lucas's trying to get through to you is, this is Nathan Montague. He isn't who you think he is. He goes to NCP for Christ's sake! " Peyton said.

"I know who he is! And his school has nothing to do with anything!" she said.

"B, whether he intended for any of it to happen or not it still happened. He played you. He knew you were just a game from day one and he still went ahead," Peyton said trying to put her arm around her but Brooke shrugged it off.

"He didn't want me to get hurt," she said.

"That is exactly what is going to happen if you go back to him Brooke, someone is going to get hurt and I guarantee you that it won't be him!" I exclaimed.

She took a step back from everyone, clearly upset and feeling like everyone was ganging up on her.

"None of you understand! Why do you all have to hate him? You don't even know him?"

"Oh please! I think I know him well enough," I said rolling my eyes.

"He isn't the same person anymore, he's changed!" B said still trying to defend him.

"People don't change!" I yelled.

"They don't?" she said looking between me and Haley.

"Oh that is completely different and you know it!" I said, annoyed she was using me as an example. "If you knew the things Nathan has done—"

"I don't want to hear it. I know he's done things, hell we've all made mistakes—"

"Brooke we just care about you that's all, we're just looking out for you," Alex said.

"Well considering you're all so closed minded and insist on being in this ridiculous 'war' with NCP, I don't need any of you to look out for me, and at the end of the day it's my decision and none of you can stop me," She said boldly her voice no longer weak. "Felix? You coming" she said before walking out the garden.

"Fine, go! But don't come crying to me when this all blows up in your face!" I said wanting the last word, then like a child added "Maybe you should just transfer to NCP while you're at it!"

Peyton looked at me and raised her eyebrow as if to say 'Really?'

"Well that didn't go very well," Skills said to the silent group of people.

"You think?" Chase said.

"Lucas, don't you think you may have taken it too far?" Haley said putting her hand on my arm. "Maybe we owe it to her to give him the benefit of the doubt?"

"No I did not take it too far! Haley you don't know him and NCP like we do ok, he's just not good news. She just doesn't see what she's getting herself into!" I shouted, then immediately felt bad for directing my anger at her as I saw the look on her face.

"Sorry," I mumbled, and she nodded and stepped up and held onto me, hugging me at the waist.

"Lucas's right Haley, Nathan isn't a good guy, she can't see it now but we're just looking out for her," Peyton said.

X x x x x

Brooke POV

I could not believe I was actually friends with those people. They were supposed to put me before some stupid rivalry between schools. Maybe the origins of the fight were more serious but they didn't even try to hear me out. Did they really think my judgement was that bad? When I got home, my first priority before going to see Nathan was to see Lucas and make sure things between us were ok. This was the longest we had ever gone without speaking and I missed him a lot. It hurt to see him basically blank me while he sat there and everyone else greeted me. I wanted to go up to him and force him to talk to me but I know Lucas doesn't work that way and nobody could force him to do anything. I know he was mad at me, but I thought while I was away he would have some time to cool down. If it was possible he seemed to be even angrier than before when he heard I was planning on staying with Nathan. It hurt to have him yell at me , but it hurt even more to have him do it in front of all out friends, yelling at me like I was a little kid who didn't know any better.

I cast it out my mind as I walked up Nathan's drive suddenly nervous to see him. The last time I had seen him face to face was when Rachel had exposed the whole plan they had that seemed to involve me, and the last time I had spoken to him I had ended things once and for all through the phone. He might not even want to see me after I was so quick to disregard out relationship and any feelings we had toward each other like it meant nothing, despite the message I sent with Peyton.

I rang the doorbell and Nathan's Mom opened the door.

"Oh hi honey," she said smiling.

"Hi, Mrs—" I started but after seeing the look on her face say, "Hi, Karen."

"That's better," she said. "I haven't seen you around for a while."

She was obviously oblivious to there ever being any problems between me and Nathan and I was glad.

"I've been out of town for a while," I told her and she nodded.

"Well Nate''s upstairs in his room," she said and I started up the stairs.

I had no idea what I was going to say to him. The two weeks I was away and the whole six hour drive down I couldn't wait to see him, but that I was here I didn't know what to say. I knew I loved him and right now that was all that mattered. At this precise moment I couldn't care less about my parents or my friends or Lucas, as long as I had Nathan everything would be ok.

I knocked on the door and heard his deep voice say 'Yeah?' obviously thinking it was someone other than me. I pushed open the door, and he look up from the desk and jumped up from his seat.

"Dee." He said shocked to see me. "What are you doing back?"

"I'm so sorry for giving up on us!" I blurted out, as it was the first thing that came to mind. I realised when I saw him in the flesh how much I really had missed him.

"So what? You realised you and Felix weren't meant to be?"

"Felix? It was never Felix, it was always you," I said confused. "I love you Nathan Scott. Felix was never a factor. That's why I sent Peyton with my message"

"I didn't get that," he said confusion on his face.

"You didn't understand the code?" I said. I was pretty sure he would understand my words and realise it meant I wanted to be together.

"No, I didn't get any message. The only time I ever spoke to Peyton was when she told me you and Felix were really going to make a go of things."

I could not believe what he was saying. Even though I knew Peyton didn't approve of my relationship with Nathan, I never thought she would ever do anything like not pass my message on. Even though she probably thought she was doing it for me, it wasn't up to her what I did with my life.

"Look, I have no idea why she said any of that, but none of it's true. It's always been you. This is what you missed: In _this_ time and in _this_ place."

"You have no idea how glad I am to hear you say that!" he said rushing forward and taking hold of me. I tugged on his shirt to bring him down to my level and kissed him.

"I missed you so much," he mumbled against my lips. "After I didn't hear from you after that night I was starting to lose hope."

"I know, I'm so sorry," I said, relieved.

"Look Dee, I know you said it was too hard for us to be together, but as long as we're on the same side, and we both want this to work we can work together and really make this work," he said hopefully.

"You're right," I said and a smile spread across his face. "Everything's ok now, and I don't have to be with Felix anymore. We can really figure this all out for real."

My smile now matched his, and threw my arms around him burying my face in his neck, taking comfort in his familiar scent, as we both stood in silence, just making the most of the moment. I couldn't believe we were here but things were finally going to be ok. I didn't know where things were going to be a year or even a few months from now, but I now knew we had a chance to really have a relationship and try to make this work without all the drama. I even considered us going public. I mean why not? All of our friends already knew, it was just my parents we'd have to hide it from.

I lifted my head up and out of the corner of my eye I saw a raw of sunlight come through his balcony doors and hit something on his bedside table. Once the light went away my eyes focused, I felt my body freeze at its recognition of the object.

A diamond encrusted Rose on a silver chain.

X x x x

Just realised that was a pretty mean cliff hanger to leave you with considering I'm not promising anything soon! *Hides under the table*

I would love to hear from you and hear your ideas and predictions for the story now that it's coming to an end. I predict about 3 chapters then the epilogue which is in 4 parts.

xxx


	35. Chapter 33 Pt 2

**A/N : I must be out of my mind to be updating 3 days before my A level exams begin! SO I hope you all appreciate and enjoy it!**

Chapter 33 part 2

"Are you ok?" I asked Brooke as I felt her tense in my arms. She put both hands on my chest and gently pushed me away.

"Is there something you need to tell me?" she asked looking queasy.

There were many things I could tell her but none that she needed to know. There was no sense in hurting her and ruining what we had just fixed over something like sleeping with Rachel if that was all over now. I never thought Dee would find her way back to me so quickly and I didn't want to screw things up again. I had no idea what was wrong with her but there was no way she could know about what happened while she was away. I was lucky she had decided to come over now, any earlier and she would have gotten a front row seat at the show itself.

"Are you ok?" I said brushing the hair out of her eyes. She took a step away from me, putting a gap that felt like miles between us.

"What is Rachel's necklace doing here?" she said, her voice wavering. I automatically flipped around to see what she was looking at and sure enough sitting on my bedside table was a diamond rose necklace Rachel usually wore. I felt my blood run cold at the sight. It killed me that something so menial like a necklace could hold all the relevance in the world.

"She was over here and she took it off?" I said trying my luck but my own voice went against me as it came out sounding more like a question.

"Don't bullshit me Nathan, just tell me the truth!" she said in a detached manner . She sounded angry and upset at the same time and I instantly felt like crap for being the one to make her feel that way.

"Did you sleep with her?" she asked, crossing her arms defensively.

"Brooke—" I started, not wanting to voice the inevitable. I did not want to have to stand here and tell her I had sex with Rachel.

"Did. You. Have. Sex. With. Rachel?" she asked again, enunciating like I didn't understand her question before.

I must have hesitated a second too long in giving her my answer because she sighed as I saw her eyes gloss over.

She let out a sob and I took a step toward her as she took another step back, not wanting to be anywhere near me, not that I blamed her. I felt just as bad for doing the action that she did finding out about it.

"Dee-"

"What? What can you possibly say to defend yourself?"

"I thought I lost you—"

"That is not an excuse! If you really loved me like you say you did then at the thought of losing me you wouldn't want to jump into bed with someone else, let alone Rachel Gatina! Who by the way I thought you said you had no feelings for whatsoever!"

"I just panicked! After I spoke to Peyton I was just looking for someone, it made no difference to me whether it was Rachel or not. I swear I do not feel anything for her, she was just something familiar and easy."

"Easy? That's just great, you were bored and she was available and that was it right? I made you wait a while but I bet you thought I was easy too right?" she said sarcastically. I tried to stop her talking but she ignored me and carried on. "So I guess sex means nothing to you at all right? You could just easily sleep with someone else less than forty eight fricking hours after we—" she stopped unable to finish her sentence, and leant on the wall behind her to support herself.

"No! It does mean a lot to me," I said trying to reassure her then realising it sounded wrong. "Sex with you not with her!"

I knew how much trust she had to have in a person before she could even think of sleeping with them, and I knew how much it all meant to her, and the contrast of knowing I had just done the same thing with someone I didn't care about romantically made me feel like terrible enough as it was. I felt sick at the thought of comparing what I did with Dee to what I did with Rachel. It was completely different. With Dee is was romantic and soft and magical, and filled with a million thoughts running through our heads at 100 miles per hour. But with Rachel it was emotionless and my mind was running blank on zero thoughts until it was over.

"After she left that here today I broke it all off with her realising it was wrong being with her when it was you I wanted."

"Oh that makes me feel so much better, it was me you wan—hold on did you just say this morning? You said you went to her after you spoke to Peyton, which means it wasn't a one-time thing and it's been going on the whole time I was gone! You just left her TODAY! Meaning she was here a couple of hours ago! " she got up to walk out like she couldn't be in the same room anymore, but she started walking toward the exit from my balcony obviously not wanting to encounter my family on her way out.

"Brooke , please hear me out," I pleaded following her.

She paused on the stairs and spun around. " In all of those weeks you seriously didn't see the wrong in what you were doing until now?"

I saw the hurt in her eyes and just wanted to hold her and reassure her everything would be ok, but I knew she wouldn't appreciate my touch right now.

"You really cared about me just as much as you cared about the bet didn't you? I was naïve to think otherwise. I was right from the start, this could never work out. " she said in a calm but sad voice.

"Please don't say that! That's not true! I'm so sorry! She never meant anything to me, please just—" I stopped talking when she decided she didn't want to listen anymore and promptly turned around to continue down the stairs and leave.

"Brooke!" I called after her. "Stop!"

"Why?" she yelled up at me standing on the balcony.

"Because I love you," I said, stating the truth. I didn't know what else I could say to begin to fix this. God, what was wrong with me? Why did I always have to ruin anything good in my life, and hurt the people I cared about most?

"Yeah well, I don't know what I'm supposed to do with that anymore." She said walking away and I literally felt my heart break into two. I think I would have preferred her to yell, or get angry, but the silence , and calmness was what scared me the most. If she had gotten mad at me, at least then I knew she still cared. She just shook her head and turned away.

X x x x x x x x

Lucas POV

"Lucas dear? Could you tell Brooke that dinner's ready?" Ada asked me as I walked into the house after coming home from dinner with Peyton and Chase.

"Umm…" I started trying to figure out a viable excuse to why I didn't want to go and talk to Brooke.

Ada frowned at my expression. "Don't tell me you two are still fighting," she said disapprovingly. "Now I don't know what happened but I do know this is the longest you two have gone without talking, and it's not right."

"Ada, you don't know what she-" I started, sounding like it was five years ago again when me and Brooke would go telling on each other to Ada.

"I don't want to know. There are no excuses. You two have been joint at the hip since you were little and it's silly to throw that all away now over something so menial."

I didn't want to start arguing about how it wasn't menial because I didn't want to volunteer information on what happened.

"Look honey, even though you two are cousins, you're like brother and sister, and let's face it you're the closest thing to family to each other either of you has got," she said in a quieter voice, realising for the first time she was implying something negative about my Aunt and Uncle.

"I know Ada, it's just more complicated than you think," I said smiling weakly. At least she was making an effort to get us to talk again, hell at least she even noticed we weren't on friendly terms, which is more than I can say for my Aunt and Uncle.

"I'm sure it is, but you have to take a step back and ask yourself if it's really worth it," she said and I took a minute inside my own head to think about what she was saying. "Now, be a grown up and go and tell her dinner's ready," she said walking back into the kitchen.

When I got upstairs I was about to knock on Brooke's door, when my previous thoughts were confirmed and I realised that Ada was right and I did agree with her, but I knew I was nowhere near ready to forget what happened, and I didn't want to talk to her either.

After deciding I would just have Michel use the intercom to tell her about dinner, I walked into my room. I was about to lie down on my bed when I heard a noise coming from somewhere in my room. I sat up abruptly and tried to follow where the sound had come from. I picked up one of my golf clubs from my cupboard and headed toward the closet door, ready to get rid of any intruders. It was a wonder anybody even got in here with all the security around our house.

I flung open the closet door to see Brooke sitting on the floor, behind my railing of clothes. She had red rimmed puffy eyes and tear tracks all over her cheeks. She jumped in surprise at the door being opened and quickly wiped the tears off her face, getting up.

"Sorry, I thought you were out," she mumbled, picking up a tissue that she had dropped.

"What the hell are you doing?" I said annoyed, setting the golf club down. I let out the breath I had been holding in anticipation to opening the door.

"Sorry, I just um… needed …some comfort," she said looking down at the floor.

"From my closet?"

"Yes...Well no, from you but you're not talking to me and…"

"Yeah the hell I'm not talking to you. You made it clear earlier you didn't need any of us, if you had your little boyfriend, so what changed," I said defensively.

"I just…I…." she stopped not knowing how to finish her sentence. I looked to my watch in irritation, even though I had nowhere else to be.

She started walking toward the door. "I guess I'm just going to go," she murmured weakly. I had never seen her looking so broken in my life.

"Brooke?"

"Hmmn?"

"What happened?" I asked unable to stop myself. Her attitude now was a complete change from earlier today and although I didn't want to admit it I was slightly worried about her.

"You were right," she as she broke down in tears. Not gentle tears, but hard heart wrenching sobs. I held it together for precisely three seconds but couldn't stand by and watch her in that state any longer; no matter how much I wanted to say 'I told you so'. I silently walked up to her and just held her. She tightly wrapped her hands around my waist like she was scared I was going to disappear any second, and cried into my t-shirt.

I rubbed her back and she seemed to have calmed down and was now crying just regular tears. I didn't say anything but just let her cry them out, even though I was dying to know what happened. If he had hurt her again, I would kill him.

After about fifteen minutes she had stopped crying but was still holding onto me.

"So, are you going to tell me what's going on?" I asked her.

"You were right all along. I was wrong. I'm sorry Lucas; I should have listened to you from the start."

Damn right she should have listened to me from the start, but I sensed she didn't need a lecture right now. That could wait until tomorrow.

Earlier today she was adamant she was right about her feelings on Nathan and he was a good guy, but something must have happened to make her change her mind.

"What did he do?" I said in a protective voice, getting straight to the point.

"He…he…he's been sleeping with Rachel while I've been away," she said and I tensed. "I mean it's not like we were together because he never got my message I sent with Peyton but I just can't believe he could turn to her so quickly. It just shows she never cared about me as much as I thought he did. God, I can't believe I was so stupid to think someone like him could like someone like me."

"What? First of all, 'someone like him', what makes him so special? And secondly, don't ever say anything like that again B. You're smart and beautiful, and definitely not stupid, and any guy would be lucky to have you. So don't for one second think you're not worthy enough! If anything he doesn't deserve you!"

"Thanks," she said pulling away from me and trying to smile.

I couldn't help for a minute feel like this was my fault. He never got her message because of me and Peyton interfering even if it were for the better. And him sleeping with Rachel so quickly just proved we were right about him.

"Now you go down to dinner, I ate already, and plus I have some things I have to take care of," I told her, picking up my jacket again and heading out the door.

"No, Lucas just leave it," she said knowing me too well, panic evident in her voice. "I don't want you to get hurt again!"

"I'll be fine I promise, me and Mr Scott have a few things to talk about," I said swivelling my car keys on my finger.

X x x x x

Brooke POV

Lucas walked out the room and I sighed, hoping he stuck to his word and they really did just talk. The last thing I wanted was for Lucas to get hurt because of me. I was thrilled to have Lucas back. After coming home from Nathan's the first person I always took comfort in was Lucas, and since he was unavailable, his closet was the next best thing. I felt at ease taking in the familiar 'Lucas' smell.

Even though I hated Nathan right now, it was impossible to just stop loving someone so quickly and I didn't want him to get hurt either.

Sleeping with Nathan had meant a lot to me. Sex wasn't a casual thing for me and I couldn't understand how it could be for anyone. I couldn't imagine doing it with anybody else, and it killed me to see how easily he was able to just turn to Rachel as soon as he thought I was out the picture.

As mad as I was at Peyton for not giving him my message because all this could have been avoided, part of me was thankful she didn't pass on that I wanted to be with him, because I got to see how little our relationship really meant to him.

I sighed, and picked up Lucas's landline phone on his desk and dialled.

"Luke?"

"No, it's me."

"Oh, hey. What's up?"

"Is your offer still open?"

"Well sure, but is that what you really want?"

"Yes."

"What happened? What about Na—"

"It's what I want. You'd better tell your parents. I'll call you later."

"Okaaay…If you're sure."

"I am."

Xxxxxxxx

**Did anyone else notice the new review button? Let's give it a try and click on it! Pretty please….and I will try and get you the next one in no more than 2 weeks I swear! (my exams finish in 2 and half weeks…)**

**Also please do let me know any predictions, AND things you want to happen….**

**And yes I am aware of the really mean cliff hanger!**


	36. Chapter 34

A/N: I have one exam left! And I could not be happier! Here is the next one to spread my joy!

Ali- I got your review and it was really sweet! You didnt log in so i could reply though so here it is! I'm go glad you're enjoying it! Especially my new take on the characters! And as for the scene you wanted...I'm not going to comment on that! Lol

Chapter 34- Finality

Lucas POV

Just talk my ass. I could not wait to lay one into that asshole. This had gone on long enough and it was getting out of control. I should have finished things that night I found out at the party. I thought maybe after his 'plan' had been revealed he might back off but he never did know when enough was enough. He'd already hurt her enough, his plan had succeeded, he could have left her then, but he just had to push it. I wasn't going to sit by anymore and just watch Brooke make the biggest mistake of her life, especially since it was my fault she was involved in the first place. This was mine and Nathan's fight , not hers.

I drove around all the regular places I thought I might find Nathan, but it was at the beach that I recognised his car in the parking lot. I saw Jake's car and Rachel's', as well as a few others I recognised but at this point I didn't care who was there, this was about me and him.

It wasn't hard to spot the small crowd gathering under the sunset around a small bonfire. There was music playing, and there were about fifteen of them sitting around talking and drinking.

I looked to the largest group which consisted of Jake, Luke and a few others I didn't know as well, expecting to see Nathan situated in the middle of them but he didn't seem to be there. I did a quick scan, knowing he was here since I already saw his car. When my eyes finally landed on him, he was sitting by himself away from anyone else, against a large log, with a beer in hand but he didn't seem to actually be drinking any of it.

I made my way over intent on my mission. I had no idea what I was going to say when I got there, but I just knew I was mad.

I saw Julian nudge Jake, who turned to see me coming, and started making his way over to me immediately, with a few others behind him.

"Can we help you?" Jake said defensively. I could tell he was confused as to why I had rocked up by myself and without any of my friends. He knew I was outnumbered, and I think he could tell I would just be stupid to start a fight now when I was on my own.

"Look, I don't want to start anything ok, I'm just here to see Nathan." I told him.

"You want to speak to Nathan?" he said raising his eyebrows.

"Just me and him. Alone," I added. It wasn't that I cared if the rest of them witnessed what was about to happen, but this was just between us, and it had gotten out of control involving enough people as it was and I wanted to finish it right here right now, the way it had started just with the two of us.

"Yeah that's not going to happen. Do you think we're that stupid?" he said, implying that I had a load of friends hiding in the bushes ready to jump Nathan once we were alone.

"It's ok, I'll talk to him," Nathan said coming over from his spot where he didn't seem to notice I had arrived until just now. His voice was weak and screamed anything but leader. Jake looked at him concerned, as if he knew something I didn't.

"Nate, are you sure? You aren't really up for—" Jake started.

"I'm fine. I said I'll talk to him."

Jake couldn't do anything but nod. Nathan walked past me and started down the beach, and I turned and following guessing that was what he was expecting me to do. The group at the beach was silent expect for a few murmurs, but they were all watching the two of us.

Nathan carried on walking for a few minutes, with me keeping a few steps behind, neither one of us acknowledging the other yet. Eventually we came around a familiar bend where we couldn't see the rest anymore and Nathan stopped, and sat on the sand. I doubted he remembered this is where we came when we were friends to 'babe watch', but I pushed the memory out of my head. The last thing I needed right now to carry out this conversation was flashbacks of happier times with Nathan as my best friend.

I was filled with anger when I arrived, but felt it deflate seeing Nathan acting as strange as he was. I had never seen him this unbothered since he had been back. I felt weird being the only one standing but didn't want to sit down, as I wouldn't have the advantage anymore.

"How is she?" he asked looking up at me.

I was speechless.

"Is she ok?" he pressed.

"You're asking me how she is?" I asked him in shock.

"She was pretty upset when she left and I just need to know if she's ok."

He wanted to know if Brooke was ok. Why should he care? Wasn't this the aim of his plan anyway?

"What're you playing at Nathan?"

"I know you don't trust me—"he started.

"The hell I don't!" I said raising my voice. "This is between us, why bring her all into this!"

"Look Lucas…I really love her," he said. Normally I would think he was playing me but I didn't think anyone was this good of an actor. He was staring at me, dark circles under his eyes apparent, waiting for my reaction.

I tried to talk but nothing came out.

"I know you don't bel—"

"If you love her why would you sleep with Rachel?" I asked him, trying to catch him out.

He looked surprised that I knew about what happened but all he said was, "I thought I lost her."

"And that would be because Peyton told you she went on her trip to start things with Felix?"

He looked surprised again that I knew about that too, considering Brooke probably didn't even know the extent of the message, and he said, "You know about that?"

"Well Peyton didn't exactly think the whole thing up on her own," I said sitting down next to him, playing with the sand.

"Oh." Was all he said.

"You seriously love her?"

"I do."

"What about the plan?"

"I was never going to go through with it. It was my excuse to hang out with her. Rachel just told everyone because she was mad at me," he said sighing.

"Did you really sleep with Brooke?"

Out of the corner of my eye I could see him look at me sharply.

"I don't think that's your business," he said, then looked at my murderous glare. He just nodded.

"And what Rachel said…"

"None of that was true!" he said quickly. "I didn't tell anyone. I have no idea how she knew."

I just nodded.

We sat there in silence for a few minutes before Nathan said, "Does she hate me?"

I sighed. "Look man, you really screwed up. Me and Peyt may have put our two cents in, but you screwed up all by yourself. Nobody told you to just drown your sorrows with Rachel."

"I noticed you avoided my question," he said. I just looked at him, and he sighed catching my answer. "Do you think if I—"

"Look, I'm going to tell it to you straight. You hurt her. Bad. I'm not going to lie to you. Not just this time but before too. If you really love her, you'll just let her go, you're both young Nathan, I mean do we even know what love is at this stage? Just forget each other, move on. Because if you both stay together we both know she'll just end up getting hurt again."

He didn't say anything and we again sat in silence, and I could see him thinking about what I said.

"What about you? Do you hate me?" he asked changing the subject.

"We're not friends again just because we had our first civil conversation in years, if that's what you're asking," I said looking ahead, not looking at him while I spoke,

"I really am sorry for sleeping with Rachel, Lucas," he said in a quiet voice. "Not this time, I mean before." We both knew exactly what 'before' he was referring to.

"Believe it or not, that's not that part I was most mad at. You were my best friend and you chose to screw me over. And over. And over. And then tell me all about when you knew it would hurt most. I wasn't mad at losing Rachel. I was mad at losing you," I said surprised at myself for telling him how I really felt, and even more surprised at me for admitting it to myself.

"When I left for New York, I didn't like who I'd become. I didn't like who I was anymore. Like you said I'd voluntarily screwed over my best friend, and that really hit me in New York when I was alone, and the regret made me go through some things but I'm not that same person anymore Lucas, and I really am sorry."

"Really? You haven't seemed like you've changed since you've been back," I said. Referring to the time on the beach when he told me about him and Rachel not just being a one-time thing and when they crashed the masquerade party and he hit me. Not that I had been perfect myself, but it was him saying he's changed.

" I know, I feel ridiculous for getting caught up in everybody pushing me to be how I used to be."

"So what changed you now?"

"Brooke did."

"Oh."

"Look, Lucas, do you think we could ever be friends again?"

"I don't hate you anymore Nate, but I don't think being friends again is ever going to be on the cards for us. I think we had our chance," I said honestly and realistically. If this were a story we would become best friends again but this was real life and it didn't work that way. Even though I could partly see where he was coming from I was nowhere near ready to be friends again.

He just nodded. "Ok I guess I deserve that," he said, leaving it at that. Even though neither of us said anything else I could sense a new level of tolerance for each other. It would be nice to civilly ignore each other rather than continue this 'you're my arch enemy and I hate your guts' thing we had going on.

I stood up and brushed sand off my shorts. Nathan made no move to leave. "Could you tell Brooke…"

I looked at him to continue but he just shook his head. "Nevermind."

I could tell he had taken into consideration what I had said about letting her go and was surprised that he actually DID care enough to follow my advice.

X x x x x

Lucas POV

"Lucas! Honey come in here and have some champagne with us?" Aunt Victoria called as I walked past the drawing room door. I went back the way I came and went inside to see my Aunt and Uncle drinking champagne in the room, both with champagne glasses in their hands and ridiculous smiles on their faces. Felix's parents were also there, sitting on one of the loungers, also with a glass in their hands.

"Umm… No thanks, it's a little early," I said. It wasn't like them to offer me alcohol, and plus I was confused at why they were so happy. If anything I would have thought they would have been the opposite now that the plans between Brooke and Felix had broken through.

"Oh, don't be like that! We're celebrating!" Aunt Victoria squealed.

"What's going on?" I asked them, even more confused now.

"We're going ahead with the Davis-Taggaro business merger!" Uncle Jonathon said, like I hadn't been listening properly.

"You're what?"

"Yes, isn't it fantastic?" Felix's mother said.

"Brooke and Felix decided they want to be together after all!" Aunt Victoria babbled

"They what!"

"Lucas, you really need to listen more," Uncle Jonathon said.

I mumbled something about having to go, choosing to ignore his comment and went into the kitchen and not seeing anyone, went into the garden. Ada and Michel were out there talking closely in hushed voices, and walking out I realised I had clearly interrupted something.

"Where's Brooke?" I asked them. I had to find out what the hell was going on.

"She's in the Pool house with Felix," Ada said, then added after looking around to make sure my parents weren't close. "Is she really doing the right thing Lucas? I thought she was intent on –"

"Don't worry I'm going to fix it," I told them, rushing toward the pool house.

I ran up and flung open the door, to see Felix and Jules standing, facing each other deep in conversation.

X x x x x x

Brooke POV (A few minutes earlier.)

"Hello, sweetheart!" Mrs Taggaro gushed, walking into the house and embracing me in a hug. The foyer was all hustle and bustle as Felix's family came in and greeted my own. All the parents were in fantastic moods after hearing our news. I hadn't come into contact with my parents since I had been home, and I had managed to catch Felix before he told his own parents we weren't planning on being together. As soon as they heard, they contacted my own parents and within the hour the foursome had initiated celebration drinks at my house.

Ada walked into the foyer carrying a tray with a bottle of champagne and glasses, putting it down beside my father who began pouring out glasses. As she walked past me she gave me a concerned look, clearly able to tell I was upset about something. Call it motherly instinct.

Felix walked in through the door, and shook my Dad's hand even though his eyes were scanning the room until they landed on me. He made his way over to me, his sombre expression, the opposite of our parents but matching mine perfectly.

"Can we talk?" he asked without even saying hello.

I just nodded and took him out back to the garden, but Michel and Ada were out there deep in conversation with serious looks on their faces. They immediately stopped talking as we came into view.

They made no move to leave the garden, so I lead him to the pool house.

Once we were inside I said, "What's wrong? Don't you want to do this anymore?"

"It's not that I don't want to, I still stand on what I said earlier. I'm just concerned about if you really want to do this," he said.

"I do."

"Brooke, this is crazy! A couple of hours ago, it wasn't even an option for you, now your 100% sure this is what you want with your life? What about Nathan?"

"Nathan's and me are never going to happen," I told him as the door flew open and we both jumped as Lucas rushed in.

"Are you out of your freaking mind!" he yelled.

"What're you talking about?" I said even though I fully knew what he was referring to.

"Brooke? Now is not the time to play dumb! You know exactly what I mean! What is going on?"

"Me and Felix are going ahead with what our parents want," I said calmly sitting on the couch, moving a PlayStation control out the way.

"Hold on a minute," Felix said, "Brooke I said I was happy to do this, if you actually want to, not because it's your rebound from Nathan. Because if it is, I promise you won't want this after a few months, and you know how our parents are and by then it will be too late to get out."

"It's not a rebound I promise," I said.

"What! Of course it's a rebound! Don't be so ridiculous! A few weeks ago the possibility of being with Felix made you gag!" Lucas said, then added "No offence Felix."

Felix nodded, not offended, as if he agreed with what Lucas was saying.

"Look B, just because things are over between you and Scott that doesn't mean this is the only option you have. We can still carry on with our lives, you could find someone else. You still have other options! Even if it is waiting a few years like my Dad gave us the option to."

Lucas raised his hand as if to say he was agreeing with what Felix was saying.

"I know, I but this is what I want. If we're going to wait a few years anyway, why not just do it now and make everyone happy. I had my fun, doing what I thought was best for me, and maybe if I just listen to everyone else, things might work out. " I said.

"Don't do this because of everyone else!" Lucas said and I chose not to listen.

I stood up and walked over to Felix looking him in the eye. "Felix, do YOU still want to do this?"

"Like I said, it was all thrust upon us, and there's no way I'm ready for marriage and all of that just yet but sometime in the future I will want it all, and I think we could go slow and things could work out."

"Good. Because I promise this isn't about Nathan, I'm not ready to give my heart to you just yet Felix but I think I could," I told him, giving him a small smile.

"Really?" he said, double checking.

Lucas scoffed somewhere behind me, but I ignored him. "Really."

"Oh for the love of god!" Lucas said, but neither of us reacted.

"If that's what you really want, I promise I'll be there for you and we can really have a go at making this work for the better. We just have to convince our parents we should have a REALLY long engagement," he said reaching down and squeezing my hand.

"Felix, now you too!" Lucas said walking around to us and standing between us. "Can you at least be the rational one?"

"Lucas, the whole year you've been trying to convince me to give Felix a chance! So this can't be so wrong!"

"Yeah but…" Lucas began but didn't know how to find an excuse to contradicting what he said before.

"So are you saying you believe there is no chance of this working out for us?"

Lucas hesitated for a few seconds but said, "B, I just want you to be happy, and by agreeing to this so quickly…"

"I want to be happy too," I told him, putting my hand on his arm. "And I honestly believe this is the way."

"Brookie…" he dragged out like he wanted to agree but was halfway there.

"Lucas, you said you'd always have my back," I said raising my eyebrows. I knew that was a cheap shot to get him to agree. "Can you trust my judgement?"

He looked like he wanted to make a comment about my lack of judgement about Nathan but cleverly sensed this wasn't the right time for jokes.

He nodded, and hugged me then patted Felix on the back.

"Let's go back to the mayhem?" Felix said, and I rolled my eyes thinking of our parents inside.

"Dude, I don't even think they noticed you were gone, let alone if you go back," Lucas said sitting down in front of the TV.

"You're right, why bother?" Paul said sitting down beside Lucas.

I went over to the mini fridge and pulled out three sodas and joining the guys on the couch, choosing to ignore the miniscule inkling in my mind that was telling me I was making a mistake.

X x x x x x x

Nathan POV _(A few weeks later)_

"Honey, are you ok?" My Mom said, eyeing me as she folded some towels, as I walked into the laundry room carrying my basket of dirty clothes.

"I'm fine," I told her, putting the basket down on the washer.

"You've just been distant," she said cautiously.

"I'm ok."

"I know you went through a bad time a couple of weeks ago and that really scared me Nate, that I couldn't do anything to help you, and I don't know why but you snapped out of it, and now you're acting all distant again and I'm just scared –" she said wearily. I could see the stress I had been putting her under on her face, and I felt the guilt seep through me. She didn't deserve to be put through everything I put her through. I was amazed she was even talking to me now. If I was her I would have permanently disowned me by now.

"Mom, everything's ok. And I promise that will never happen again. I was just going through things but it's all ok now."

"I just want you to know you can talk to me," she said.

"I know."

"I'm just really concerned about you, you haven't been acting like yourself," she said.

"Did I do something?" I asked, thinking back.

"No, but that's precisely it! You don't do anything! You wonder around the house like a ghost barely saying anything to anyone, just answering if we ask you something. I need you to talk to me Nathan."

I could see why she could see something was up. Even though I was back to normal now, I was acting like an even better son that I was before, which was the first sign telling them something was up. I did everything they asked me to, and spent time with Izzie, who was ecstatic to have her big brother back.

"Mom, I'm fine!" I insisted.

"Well, I don't think you are, and I think it has something to do with this," she said taking out a little envelope from her back pocket and placing it on the washer, leaving me to take the bait.

The curiosity got the better of me, and I picked up the cream envelope. The envelope made of good quality marbled card had cursive lettering on the front with my parents name on it, making it look important.

_**Mr and Mrs Davis and Mr and Mrs Taggaro,**_

_**request the pleasure of your company on**_

_**Saturday 26**__**th**__** May at 7.30pm **_

_**At**_

_**The Parkerson Country Club**_

_**to celebrate the completion of the Davis-Taggaro business merger bringing**_

_**Davis Enterprises and Taggaro Arbitrations together**_

_**And to celebrate the engagement of their children**_

_**Felix Antonio Taggaro and Brooke Penelope Davis.**_

_**Please RSVP via the return card, making sure to complete the catering card.**_

She was right. There was something wrong, but it wasn't the contents of this card since I didn't know about it yet, but as my eye caught the word _engagement, _the finality hit me and it made it a million times worse. I ignored the sinking feeling in my stomach and the need to break down any second, and pushed it out my mind, making myself commit to the decision I had made to make sure she was happy, despite whether it was with me or not. I knew she didn't want to be with Taggaro and if she had agreed to it, she would have wanted it. I hated the thought of picturing her going to college with _Felix_, and living with _Felix_ and marrying _Felix_, and having children with _Felix_. The children that were supposed to be mine.

"Nate?" she asked not able to hold the silence anymore.

"How long have you had this?" I asked.

"About a week, I've been working up the courage to ask you."

"It doesn't matter," I told her.

"I know you never said it outright but I thought you and Brooke were—"

"Well we're not," I snapped, then felt bad at taking out my frustration at her.

"I really liked her, Nate. I thought she was good for you. What happened?" she said ignoring my claim that we weren't together.

"Life happened Mom. Our Friends happened. Our Family happened. I happened, to ruin everything as usual," I said with a sigh. She put down the towels, and put her hands on her hips.

"Oh sweetie, don't use everyone else as an excuse not to be together. If the two of you like each other then nothing else should matter. And as for you happening, you didn't happen to anything. You might have made a mistake?" she said and I nodded, "But don't for one second think you ruin things sweetie. Nathan honey, you're capable of so much, and you just need to believe in yourself and give yourself more credit."

I just nodded. She turned back to her towels and moved the pile to a shelf, then began adding my clothes to the washer.

"Mom?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm really sorry. For everything," I said. I realised I hadn't had the chance to apologise in any way. When they had come back from their trip I had acted like nothing had happened. Needless to say they were shocked but didn't say anything to jolt my new behaviour.

"I know sweetie," she said nodding. I walked over to her and gave her a hug. She quickly came over her surprise then hugged me back. I didn't remember the last time I had hugged my mom, feeling that I was too 'grown up'. Hugging her made me feel safe again, and I felt like I was ten again as I broke down in her arms. She didn't say anything after seeing my tears but just rubbed my back letting me get it all out. I think she knew my tears weren't just for the feeling bad that went with my apology but for Brooke too.

X x x x x

A/N: I hope you liked it!

IMPORTANT NOTE: This was the last chapter before the 4 part epilogue which jumps into the future four years. Before I post that, I would love some predictions for where everyone will be in four years and what will happen! If you have any preferences for people to be together or break up etc, put all that in too! I'll post after I get some of those, x


	37. AN

Hey Guys!

So my exams are finally over! Which is great and I will be updating VERY soon, hopefully tomorrow, just as soon as I am done!

But I have a quick question for you. I am working on a new story, I just wanted your opinion on if it should be a BRUCAS or BRATHAN.

The only thing is bare in mind that if it is a brathan, which I think may fit the story better, that means Lucas will have to be with Haley…and do we like that?

Unless you have any other ideas?

If I pair Peyton and Lucas (as much I hate to), then I still need someone to be with Haley?

Ideas?

Thank you guys!

If I get some ideas for this one, I promise I will update Another time, Another place quickly, as well as the first chapter of the new story…..

Flips, x


	38. Epilogue Part one

_**A/N: Welcome my lovely readers to the four part epilogue! I'm happy and excited we're here but sad it's nearly over…!**_

_**This one is for **_**Xxx RochiieeBeckiiee xxX –Thank you for keeping me going! Without your consistent reviews I would have stopped this story long ago!**

_**Enjoy :P Yes I'm aware it's short, but that's how the epilogue works…!**_

_**Epilogue. Four years, three weeks and five days later.**_

_**Nathan POV**_

"I'll have the vanilla crunch sundae… a strawberry swizzle anddddd….. a bananarama," Izzie told the guy behind the ice cream counter behind the ice cream counter at Slurpy's as she scanned the menu hanging from the ceiling checking to see if she had missed anything.

The guy looked at her strangely but keyed the order in anyway.

"And for you?" he asked looking to me.

"I'll have—"

"Ohh actually, I'll have a cookie monster , with extra chocolate sauce too," she said interrupting.

The guy looked to me as if to ask whether he should be giving the ten year old anything she asked for, but I just nodded in confirmation and he keyed it in.

I raised my eyebrow at her and she said, "What? I'm making up for lost time!"

Yes she was. Four years of Saturday ice cream tradition out of the window, and it was technically my fault since I was the one out of the country.

"And I'll have a scoop of chocolate in a cup," I said and I heard Izzie mumble something along the lines of me being boring and predictable in my old age.

"That's eighteen dollars," he said and I passed him the money.

"I'll bring it over to your table," he said. I walked over to the tissue and spoon stand and out of the corner of my eye I saw Izzie go and occupy a circular booth clearly meant for about six people, and I rolled my eyes as she spread her stuff out. She had really grown up in the last four years in which I hadn't seen her (not including Skype), and since I had been back I had noticed she now came with a side order of attitude and confidence. I was glad she had finally found her herself and had settled in happily into Tree Hill.

I looked around and didn't see anyone that I remotely recognised. Slurpy's was now occupied with the next generation of teenagers, and it was crazy to think we had been them a few years ago. Now the trivial high school drama didn't mean quite so much. I wanted to go up to the table that used to be occupied with THS students and tell the blonde cheerleader that in a few years nobody will care who was prom queen and tell the captain of the basketball team that nobody would care what school would win the state championships. It all seems so insignificant now.

The last four years for me had gone by in a blur. Come graduation, I was the first one out of this town. I had agreed to my parents request not to take a year out and agreed to go to college on the terms that my college was nowhere near Tree Hill. Or Yale. They had taken my request quite literally and let me go to college in France, where all those summers taking French lessons in my Grandmothers chateau in Paris had paid off. And being at university wasn't as bad as I thought, as at least in France I knew they weren't accepting me because of the influence of my parents.

As much as my Mom didn't want me to go so far away I think she knew it was what I needed to sort myself out and find myself after everything I had been through the past few years, not just with Brooke but with losing myself along years. After completing my business degree, I was reluctant to go home. I knew Tree Hill was where Davis Enterprises and Taggaro Arbitrations both had their head offices set up and a certain couple that I wasn't ready to see were coming back home after college too.

Instead I did what I've wanted to do for the last few years and take a year to just travel. I went to Spain and Italy for two months before meeting up with Jake in Thailand and travelling through Asia, then Australia and New Zealand for the rest of the year, and just going where life chance took us, without planning ahead, stopping in a town every so often for a little while, taking random jobs to support ourselves not wanting to have our trip financed on our families money. Even though our parents weren't too pleased, they were just a simple phone call away every few weeks to let them know where in the world we were.

We'd had our fun and our run at independence and I'd finally come to realise I'd eventually have to grow up, no matter how hard to tried to run from my problems, which I was unconsciously doing. So we finally gave into the complaints and guilt from our families about how they hadn't seen Jake for a year and me for four. Even though we had the time of our lives, we both missed our families so took the next flight out to spend the next month with them before we had to head off to New York, where we already have a job waiting for both of us in the New York offices of my Dad's company. I figured it was time to grow up and face the music. If Brooke wanted to be with Felix and she was happy, then so was I. I think people including my Mom just thought it was 'high school' love and I would just get over it, but by the increasing amount of time I spent think about her over the years, I knew it was the real thing. We really did bring out the best in each other.

In the three and a half weeks I had already been here, I had somehow managed not to run into anyone from Tree Hill High. Chances were, I would have run into Brooke, Felix or even Lucas in this tiny town, but I guess I had been lucky. I was already packed and ready to fly out to New York tonight, a couple of days early so we could set up our apartment.

Most of my own friends had all jumped at the chance to leave the small town. The only ones left of us were Julian and Bevin, who had broken up but were still good friends. I'd been hanging out with them and Jake the past few weeks along with Rachel who had moved to Chicago to live with her Dad, but was also down visiting her Mom and sister. It had felt like old times, back when I used to live here, and we were all just good friends, no drama involved.

I was about to take the spoons and stack of tissues that Izzie would surely need back to the table when something crashed into my legs. I twisted around to see a little girl, around two or three holding onto my leg like her life depended on it.

"Ummm….Hi," I said and she grinned looking up at me through her chestnut coloured hair that had fallen out of her hairband and into her eyes.

"Hi," she said.

"Are you ok?" I asked her trying to figure out what she was doing and how to pry her off my leg where she looked perfectly content.

"Yep, I'm fine," she said.

"Oh. Ok. Good," I said not sure what to do.

"Is your Mom or Dad around?" I asked her.

"Jessie?" A voice yelled out, answering my question. "Jessica! I'm not playing around!" The voice continued sounding closer and more frantic.

Felix Taggaro rushed through and stopped at the sight of the little girl. Just when I thought I could make it onto the plane without running into anyone. Just my luck. Karma really was a bitch.

"Oh, thank god!" he said to himself, scooping her up in his arms. He looked like a really frazzled babysitter right now. I was so glad Izzie was older now, remembering the times I had to keep an eye on her when she was a toddler.

"Jessie, what did I tell you about just running off like that!" he said to her not noticing me yet, but I knew when he looked up he would, since he definitely knew me well enough. I wonder if I could just slip out without him noticing . Probably not, that would just draw more attention to me.

"Sorry Daddy," she replied and I froze at her words. And for the first time since she had looked at me I had finally noticed her hazel eyes.

**A/N: You either love me right now for updating or and want to kill me with my cliff hanger (I'll take either feeling!)**

**Since we're nearly done, it would mean a lot to hear from my readers (I know you're out there!)**

**I would also love it if you would take a look at my new OTH Brathan called I'm IN Love with you. It's on my profile!**

**Also anyone who wants to make a cover for this story or IILWY is welcome too and the best one gets posted up as well as the maker becoming a character in the epilogue!**

**Much love as always**

**Flips, x**


	39. Epilogue part two

**A/N: I got the most reviews I've ever gotten in one go for the last chapter (5), and they made me so happy, hence the upload! I really want to make it to 140-50 reviews by the time the story is over, and we only have 2 parts left! Pretty please help me!**

**I really wish you guys would log in when you review because I can't reply to you! So here are the review replies:**

**Zoe: Don't worry, you'll find out VERY soon!**

**Zoeabbie12: Thanks for your review! You've been loyal throughout, and for that I am so thankful! I really hope you like how it end it off!**

**Jillian: Thank you as well for your review! It was so sweet, it made me feel all tingly inside! You've been really loyal, and I really appreciate it! And hope you like how I decide to end it off!**

**Cc77: I want to reply to your review, but I can't right now with what I want to say because I'll spoil the story, but look to the end of this chapter AFTER you read and I will reply there!**

**Roch: Need I actually say anything! I think you know how much I love you!**

Epilogue part 2

Nathan POV

"Sorry daddy," she replied and I froze at her words. The little girl had brown hair. Not as light as Brooke's own but could have quite easily been a different shade of Felix's dark hair. This was the little girl that should have been mine. They were a real family now, no going back. The little girl looked around two or three which meant she must have been born when Felix and Dee were still at college, which only meant one thing. They must be happy.

"Well then why did you do it?" Felix said checking her over to make sure she wasn't hurt.

"Mommy said I could have ice cream if I was good, and I was good wasn't I Daddy?" she said sweetly. I felt dizzy at the thought that Brooke was nearby, and my legs felt like jelly as they scanned for the nearest exit.

"Yeah, well that's debatable," he said laughing to himself, and kissing her forehead.

"Thanks for keeping an eye on her," he said looking over to me. I saw the recognition pass in his eyes.

"Nathan right? Nathan Scott?" he said slowly.

"Umm...yes," I said trying to get a grip.

"So you're back in town," he said, and I nodded.

"Yeah, I've been travelling," I told him.

"Oh, so you're back for good now?" he asked.

"Well I actually head off to New York tonight to work down there," I said.

"Oh, ok that's great man. Listen—" he started but was interrupted when Jessie squealed.

"Mommy's coming!" she said happily, looking over Felix's shoulder. I suddenly was strained between needing to see her and not wanting to. I still loved her and wanted to see her but didn't think I wanted it to be when she was with her _family _and when she was in her new life. I don't think I could take it, and it would make this all the more final as if it hadn't hit me already.

I looked around looking for a quick way out, but from Jessie's excitement I could tell she was approaching too quickly.

"Momma," Jessie said putting her arms out.

I saw white spots in my vision and closed them tightly preparing myself. I opened them slowly and saw Peyton rush up and take Jessie out of Felixs arms.

"Oh, baby! Where have you been?" she said clearly panicked.

"It's ok, you can relax, we have her now," Felix said.

Peyton sighed in relief and looked up realising my presence.

"Nathan." She said speechless.

"Peyton?" I said, just as stuck for words in my confusion.

She nodded.

"I guess I haven't seen you since that day," she said. There was no need for her to clarify. We both knew exactly what day she was referring to. The day she told me Brooke had gone to be with Felix.

"I never got a chance to tell you….well I'm sorry," she said looking ashamed.

"It's ok, I messed up on my own," I told her.

"I know but if it wasn't for me, that wouldn't have happened at all," she said.

I nodded knowing she was partly right, even though a small part of me thought I might have still slept with Rachel if it wasn't for her, as my subconscious self-destructing my love life. Peyton seemed to genuinely be sorry, and seemed to have grown up a lot since I last saw her. I think in a way all of us had in the last four year, and not just literally in our age.

"So you guys are married?" I asked them, checking to make sure I had my facts straight.

"One year and going," Peyton said smiling and holding up her left hand to show me the ring. Felix grinned and put his arm around her.

"But I though….Didn't…hang on but ...if...What about Brooke?"

x

Brooke POV

"Hey sweetie," Tori, my roommate called from the bathroom as she heard the door slam as I walked in.

"Hey Tor," I said putting my bag down and getting a bottle of water out of the fridge.

Tori appeared in the kitchen shaking out her short black curly hair and putting on her jacket.

"Heading out to work?" I asked her, watching her take off a load of bracelets and festival bands off her wrist. Her supervisor was always giving her warnings about how 'unprofessional' they were.

"And I'm running late as usual," she said rolling her eyes, and I laughed. Tori worked at the music centre giving Piano and Violin lessons to kids. The centre was literally one road away and I had no idea how she managed to be late every day.

"Got plans for tonight?" she asked.

"I'm babysitting Jessie," I told her, smiling at the thought of my goddaughter.

"Ok, cool. So I made pasta for lunch, there's left overs in the fridge," she said.

"You're ace you know that?" I said thankfully, too tired to cook myself.

"Don't I just," she said. "Oh and this came for you today."

Tori picked up the pile of mail on the counter and took out a thin envelope and passed it to me.

"Love you!" she called out leaving.

The envelope was too thin to contain a letter but when I opened it all that fell out was a cheque written out to me.

Even though I was used to these appearing every month, I still felt just as content as the time I received my first pay check. It felt great to be out in the world out by myself, living on my own money, not my parents. You know the first thing I bought with my first ever pay check? A bar of chocolate, and let me tell you, chocolate had never tasted so good.

Everything had changed so much for me in the last four years. After graduating high school and leaving for Yale with Felix, it look me less than a week for us both to realise we were just good friends and weren't going to be more than that. I came home and just told my parents me and Felix were still together, Yale just wasn't right for me. Since they were still on cloud nine from the engagement, they agreed to let me to go St. Martins, especially since they spoke to their favourite soon-to-be son in law and he convinced them it was a great idea. London was great, and so was St. Martins, don't get me wrong, but after a few weeks of being there I realised that when my Dad asked me if music school in London was what I really wanted, I realised there that it wasn't. I loved music I did, and it would be a great experience for me, but I now knew it wasn't so much that I wanted to go to St Martins but going to St Martins would be a way for me to control my own life. Ever since I had grown up my parents had decided everything for me, and they were planning to continue doing so when it came to going to Yale. Part of the appeal of going to St Martins was that I had found it all by myself.

Even once I realised this, I still stayed and completed my required three years, before heading home. By now my parents had realised that when I told them me and Felix were still together it was a little white lie. If no visits in three years back to the US to visit my 'fiancé' didn't tell them, when Felix came home with Peyton and a baby in tow they got the message. They were mad at first but the last three years had tightly bound both families together in the business merger they wanted and the Prince's weren't going to pull out now so in the end they still got what they wanted.

As soon as I was back home I got a job at the Music centre, teaching kids much to my parent's distaste, which is where I met Tori. As soon as I made enough money to move out, I left my parent's house and started renting a two bedroom apartment with Tori who turned out to be looking for a roommate. It was small and nothing like the house I grew up in but it was real life and was more of a home to me than my actual house had ever been and most importantly it was mine. My parents weren't too happy with my new living conditions, and even offered to buy me a house that was up to our 'standards' but I was adamant I was staying here and they couldn't exactly do much considering I was twenty-one years old and an adult. Needless to say, considering my mother doesn't want to be seen in this area, visiting time is down to me going up to the house, but at least I don't need to worry about either of my parents unexpectedly turning up on my doorstep.

It was at the Music centre that I saw an advertisement for a job, and applied just for the hell of it, not expecting to ever get the job considering my lack of experience, but fate decided to be on my side and I managed to bag what I realised was my dream job. It turns out the company loved my demo tapes and I soon found my calling composing the background music for up and coming movies. I had been working there for just under a year and I had already reached places that people who have been working towards for years haven't reached. I was finally was living life for myself. As great as it is though I still feel like there was a small part of me missing and I wasn't as content as I should have been.

After warming up the leftover pasta and having a quick shower, I drove over to Felix and Peyton's. Felix and Peyton had started dating, much to Peyton's delight soon after me and Felix called it quits. I was really happy for them. Peyton had gone out with a lot of guys but there was something about Felix that made the real Peyton comes out. They made each other happy, and as unplanned at it was, when Peyton realised she was pregnant about year later they were both thrilled. Granted the timing wasn't perfect since they were both in the middle of college, but they made it work. Although it meant they had to grow up pretty quickly, not getting much one on one time to themselves. Luckily I adored Jessie and tried to spend time with my goddaughter as much as I could, so Peyton and Felix's once a month date night also doubled up as Jessie and Brookie's night of fun, even if I had to practically push them out the door.

"Sorry I'm late," I called into the house as I let myself in. Peyton stepped out into the hall, wearing jeans.

"Why aren't you dressed?" I asked, walking into the kitchen to put the ice cream I brought with me into the freezer.

"Umm well we might not be going tonight," she said walking in after me.

"Why not? We go through this every time Peyt, She'll be fine without you. You and Felix go have fun." I said before she could answer, Felix walked into the kitchen, also dressed in jeans and a polo shirt.

"You're not dressed either?" I said to him, as he walked over and gave me a one armed hug. "Seriously guys you need to get over this. She's four years old, she isn't a baby anymore. Believe it or not she actually likes it when I babysit. I'm not that bad!" I said jokingly.

Neither of them said anything and I noticed them exchanging looks every few seconds.

"Ok is someone going to tell me what's going on?" I said, looking between the two of them.

"umm well you see…."Peyton started, but stopped not knowing how to finish, looking at Felix to carry on.

"Well…." Felix said trying to take over.

"You two are nuts," I said rolling my eyes playfully and heading toward the living room. "Go get dressed. Where's Jessie at?"

A walked into the living room and froze. No, I didn't freeze at the shock of what Jessie was doing. I was used to seeing her colouring; it was actually one of her favourite things to do. I was in shock at who she was colouring with.

"Hi," he said standing up, noticing the second I walked into the room.

My mind was running at 100 miles per hour, trying to figure out how to react. Part of my mind was telling me to run out the room, but my feet were firmly stuck in place, and the other part of my mind was trying to string together some form of a coherent sentence.

"Hi," I breathed out, low enough that I'm sure I was the only one who heard. I was aware of Felix picking up Jessie out the room, and mentioning something about going out for ice cream.

"Two ice creams in one day! Is it my birthday?" she asked, as they left.

The room was silent; I could hear the clock ticking in the background as we were left alone.

He looked different. Obviously I knew time had gone on, but the Nathan in my head was still the eighteen year old boy I knew when I had last seen him. My hand was itching to reach out and touch him to see if he was real, but I managed to get control of it in time, and clenched my fist by my side.

Our eyes were locked onto each other, and we stood still two metres apart in silence, neither of us able to tear away our gaze.

Xxx

**A/N: I really hope you liked it! **

**Oh and how can I forget! I watched the OTH finale when it aired in London like a month ago (I know, I forgot to mention it!), but I cried so much, especially when they all sang along to gavin degraw! I was doing it too through my tears! Even after it ended about half an hour later, my Mum just mentioned that I watched it, and I burst into tears again! My brother could not stop laughing at me! I have to admit though, the episode wasn't actually that good, and neither was the last season but it was still epic because it was the end of OTH. SO I was crying more for that than the actual plot. If I had it my way, it would have stopped at season 5 or at least got a better plot!**

**Cc77- You know it never occurred to me to have Jessie as Brooke's and make it Nathan's baby! But after you wrote it I started thinking of it, and I really wished I had done that now!**


	40. Epilogue Part three

**A/N: IMPORTANT: Many of you have asked when I'm starting my new story. Well I have started it already and the ff link is as follows:**

**/s/8230516/1/Im_IN_love_with_you**

**So check that out.**

**But otherwise, enjoy.**

Epilogue part 3

Ok so sue me. I took the easy way out. I ran.

I didn't even know he was in town, which was odd considering how everybody in this tiny town knew everybody's business. I'm sure one of my friends would have thought to have mentioned it.

My mind was overflowing with all the thoughts I had been holding back about Nathan in the last few years. Trying to get over Nathan was the hardest thing I ever had to do, and I never let myself think of him.

The short time I was with Felix, I was mad at Nathan, and I still was for a long time afterward. When I got back to Tree Hill, in the gap between Yale and St Martins, I tried to look for him, to talk things out and maybe get some closure. I tried to ask around to find out where he went to school, but nobody really knew. Jake told me he went to school somewhere in Europe and didn't offer up any more information. He told me I chose Felix, obviously not knowing we weren't together anymore, and advised me not to look for Nathan, telling me I'd only end up hurting us both when I went back to Felix.

After coming back from school in London, I knew everyone else would be coming home then too, including Nathan. I waited for him to come back so we could talk about things, because as much as I wanted to hate him, any thoughts I had about Nathan weren't bad ones anymore. But none of that mattered anyway because he didn't come back.

I wondered around town anxiously for a few days waiting to 'run' into him but it never happened. After psyching myself up I went to speak to one of his friends. Bevin, one of the most approachable, told me as far as she knew he was travelling and not planning to come back any time soon. It was then that I lost hope. If he wanted to be with me he would have contacted me by now, surely hearing the news that me and Felix weren't together. He had clearly moved on with his life, and I needed to move on too. I went out on a few dates, even some really great ones, but however hard I tried I couldn't help compare them to Nathan. I would sit there thinking about what Nathan would say to that, or if Nathan would like something. As hard as I tried I couldn't get him out of my head. Eventually I realised I couldn't live like this and forced myself not to think about him. Whenever I thought about Nathan I would push the thought out my mind. It helped to focus on my life and my music. I had convinced myself it was all for the better, and this was how things were meant to be.

It was about a year later, and after not thinking of him for that long, I was making up for it now. My mind was creating so many thoughts at the same time, I couldn't keep up.

"Dee…" he whispered just as low as I had but I heard him. My stomach flopped at the sound of my old nickname. "How have you been?"

"Good," I replied. Was he seriously not going to address the fact that we were standing in front of each other for the first time in years. "What about you?" I asked him avoiding the situation just like him, unable to ask him what I really wanted to know.

"Fine," he said.

We stood there for a few more seconds just looking at each other before I couldn't handle it anymore.

"Wh...What are you doing here?" I asked croakily, a result of my throat going dry the second he came into view.

"I'm in town visiting Mom, Dad and Iz," he said and I nodded. "I didn't exactly have time to plan what to say."

"Nathan…" I said trying to urge him to carry on.

"I ran into Peyton and Felix and they mentioned you'd be here," he said and I nodded.

So he wasn't actually trying to find me. Felix and Peyton said I'd be here, and he thought he'd pop over and say hi?

"I still think about you," he said, taking a step closer, and on instinct I took a step back.

"You can't just come here and tell me you still think about me!" I said my voice, turning loud in the empty room, which had previously contained whispers. He jumped, not expecting the sudden outburst. It was all too much in the short space of time. Ok, fine I had been looking for him, but it wasn't so I could jump into where we left off, regardless of how I felt he still hurt me. And it wasn't like he changed his mind now and came looking for me. If Peyton and Felix hadn't offered up the information on where I was, I would still be spending my evening watching the Little Mermaid with Jessie.

"It's been four years," I said. I was partially aware that my hands were beginning to shake. "You can't just tell me you've been thinking about me! So what? You just started thinking of me now? It's not like you came here looking for me Nathan, if you hadn't run into Peyton and Felix, you wouldn't be here right now!"

"Dee," he said looking upset, and reaching out toward me. "I wanted to come before."

"Then what the hell was stopping you?" I said with a new fire in my voice. I was sick of being strung along by everyone. These past few years I had finally taken charge of my life, and I wasn't going to stop now.

"I didn't know about you and Felix," he said, looking at my face to try and figure out what I was thinking, but I'm pretty sure my face was expressionless. I knew exactly what he was referring to without him explaining.

"Everybody knew about me and Felix not staying together," I said, thinking that was a bad excuse to why he hadn't contacted me until now. Me and Felix kept up pretences until Peyton became pregnant, and we had to tell our parents. Soon enough the whole town new, it was the hot gossip for a while, '_Antonio Taggaro's son, gets another girl pregnant whilst engaged to Jonathon Davis's daughter!' _

I guess in a way, Felix did end up taking the fall for me whether he intended to or not.

"I didn't. I was only in contact with a few people while I was away and I told them not to mention you."

I'm sure he saw the unstoppable hurt expression on my face because he said, "Not because I didn't want to think about you, because it hurt too much to think that you hated me and were with Felix."

I nodded.

"I have to go," I rushed out, thinking it was the only logical thing to say right now. He reached out toward me again, and I took another step back before his hand could make contact with my skin.

And that was when I ran. The mature thing to do would have been to stay and talk things out with Nathan. But I was in no way prepared to have that conversation right then, especially since I didn't even know what I thought.

Jake POV

I dropped the box of my old stuff I didn't want to take with me to New York by the garbage, and was about to turn and go inside when I saw a glimpse of familiar red next door.

I climbed over the fence from my back yard into Rachel's, the action feeling like second nature to me after doing it so often throughout out childhood, despite not having done it for four years. I started walking over to the gigantic rock that she was sitting on with her back to me, not having noticed me yet.

As much as I didn't want to admit it, not seeing Rachel every day for the past four years was harder than I thought. It felt wrong not to be able to just pop over whenever I just wanted to hang out, or call her when I needed some advice. Relationship stuff aside, we had been best friends for the majority of our lives. Even though I could have easily called her while I was away at college, after the way we had left things, I needed to distance myself from it all, and knowing we both needed some time to figure things out. By the time I finished college, I had come to the conclusion that I would never stop loving her and I needed her in my life but three years had gone by and it felt weird to randomly call her after we had spent all this time without contacting each other.

In the three months I was home, after college, I was expecting to see her every time I looked out of my bedroom window in her back yard. It was weird to be home without her. I had become accustomed to having her around. I heard from my Mom that after college she went straight to go and live with her Dad in Chicago. It felt crazy not to have any idea what was going on in her life.

She had always had a great relationship with her Dad and when her parents got divorced, it made her relationship with her Mom, worse especially as she partly blamed her Mom for fighting for a one sided custody agreement and her Dad moving 2,016 miles away. It didn't help that her little sister and her Mom got on so well considering she was too young to remember anything else. She had lost her partner in crime. She saw her Dad once every few months, and I knew she looked forward to those weekends, for ages even as she got older and didn't want to admit it, and now that she was eighteen and had a say in her parents' custody agreement, she could finally go and live with him. I knew it wasn't likely that she would ever move back. She had no reason to.

The last few weeks had been amazing. When me and Nathan arrived home, I had no idea she would be down visiting her Mom and sister at the same time. I was sitting the dining table being force fed by my mother who was convinced that I hadn't been eating enough while I was away, when Rachel burst into the kitchen from the back door like she always did, to give back a dish her Mom had borrowed.

She had cut her hair. That was the first thing I had noticed. Her long fiery red locks that were once her signature look had been cut short to just above her shoulders. She looked different, but she was still Rach. Later when I asked her about it she told me she needed a fresh start, and needed to find herself. She thought about dying it too but didn't want to lose herself completely along the way. Even though I was back in Tree Hill, I knew I wasn't home again until I'd seen her. That day in the kitchen, something was new. She had this glow surrounding her, which I later dubbed as happiness. Being back with her for the last month, had felt exactly the same as before, as if the last four years hadn't happened, and we hadn't lost touch. Neither of us mentioned what happened before we went to college and we just went back to being friends. As awkward as that sounds, it really wasn't. It reminded me why we were friends in the first place. I tried to find signs that she still had feelings for me, but she hadnt given me any signals so far, and I was beginning to think she was over me, and I couldn't say I blamed her. I had lost my chance all those years ago, but I knew the distance between us was necessary.

"Hey, I said, sitting down beside her on the rock.

"Hi," she said smiling, and brushing her bangs out of her eyes.

"Whatcha doing out here?" I asked her. We used to spend a lot of time out here on the rock, whether it was doing homework or just hanging out, but the only time when we did it alone, and just staring into space, it usually meant something was wrong.

"Just getting some air," she said pulling her legs up and hugging her knees to her.

"From your Mom?" I asked her.

"Surprisingly, no. We've actually been getting on better since I moved in with Dad," she said smiling.

"That's great," I told her.

"So finished packing?" she asked before I could ask any more.

"Just about," I said. She nodded and started picking at the edge of her shoes.

This was the first silence we had had in the month, both of us filled with stories of college and travelling for the other. It was times like this that I wish I could hear what she was thinking. The old Rachel would have just come out with it, and I wouldn't even need to ask.

"So when do you head back?" I asked her, breaking the silence.

"I'm thinking I'll head back on Tuesday, and go back to work early. I have a few things to catch up on, and I need to sort out the house before Dad and Marcia get back from the Bahamas in a couple of weeks," she said. For some reason I got a weird feeling in the back of my throat, about her leaving Tree Hill, even though technically I was leaving too.

"God, 'head back to work early', we've really grown up haven't we?" I said laughing. There was no way I could imagine us having this conversation four years ago.

"We sure have," she said smiling weakly, and playing with a bracelet on her wrist. "I just always thought we'd be in each other's lives when we did."

I stopped laughing, and didn't know what to say. I felt the guilt of not talking to her up until now and not even mentioning it when we saw each other again. Even though she didn't call me either, I knew the decision of it all was pretty much down to me. I knew from seeing her again that I was still totally in love with her, nothing had changed. But I also knew from this last month how much exactly our friendship meant to me, and I'd rather not lose that. And besides, everything seemed to be going well. I didn't want to mention what happened before, I mean people grow up and things changed. Maybe she realised she didn't actually like me at all. She had definitely changed in the last four years. Just from hanging out with her and the gang, I could see that she no longer felt the need to be the centre of attention, and she was acting more like the 'Rach' I knew and she normally kept hidden from everyone else.

"Rachel…"

"It's ok," she said.

"No it's not. I'm sorry for not –"

"Jake, seriously its fine I fully understand we both needed some time," she said, understandably. "I just—", she started but stopped. "Nevermind…"

"No, go on," I urged her.

"This last month has been so great hanging out again. But now when you go to New York, and I go back to Chicago, is it all going to go back to how it was before? Just not talking to each other again?" she asked, looking doubtful of what my answer would be. So that was what she was worried about. That I would move away and we would both go back to our perspective lives, and just pretend the other didn't exist again. There was no way I could just cut her out of my life after seeing her again and I didn't want to.

"Rachel, we're friends and nothing's going to change that," I assured her.

"Promise?" she said warily.

"Pinky promise," I said holding out my little finger, like we used to when we were young.

She smiled softly and linked her finger onto mine.

**A/N: Only one more left guys! And I want to scream so badly right now! Last minute predictions anyone?**

**And I also have a lovely new brathan coming out, which Roch is helping me with, and has been fantastic! I hope to do a whole load of updating this week and next week so be prepared! The new story should be fantastic so watch out!**

**SO just to conclude:**

**ATAP finishes next chapter. So if you have sequel ideas please do let me know. I was thinking of basing it on the next generation, with some storylines from our original characters. So any ideas on where everybody is seventeen years later?**

**I'm going with I'm IN Love with you, so keep reading!**

**And the new brathan will be out too this week. It will be called (unless I have any last minute changes) 'Prelude to a happily ever after…'**

**As always thank you for your support!**

**Let's all review for the last two there will ever be for this!**

**xxxxx**


	41. Chapter four the end

**A/N: It has been an absolute pleasure !**

**Thank you to everyone for your support and loyalty (Jillian, Sweetcakes91,cc77,****lolvelovelovelife****, Roch,Zoeabbie12, etc)—you have made this a truly wonderful experience!**

Epilogue part 4

"Lucas!" I yelled into his apartment as I let myself in, thankful that this was one of the rare weekends he was in Tree Hill.

"You know I gave you that key for two reasons. To water my plants while I'm away and for emergencies. Considering my plants have been dead for a pretty long time, it's a bit late to start" he called back and I followed his voice into the kitchen. Lucas was flipping pancake's wearing nothing more than a pair of black boxers.

"Jeez put on some clothes," I said, sitting down on one of the bar stools, "And this is an emergency!"

"It's my apartment, I'll wear what I want," he said and I rolled my eyes. I still found it pretty pointless for him to have his own place in Tree Hill considering how little time he spent here. "So what's going on?" he said putting a mug of coffee in front of me. I waited until the coffee pot was back on the table before I spoke not wanting to cause him to drop it in shock.

"Nathan's back," I said then took a deep breath.

"Oh."

"Oh? Is that all you're going to say?" I said, surprised at his lack of a reaction.

"I saw Jake last week at the store, and last I heard he was travelling with Nathan, so I figured that meant Nathan was back too."

"And you didn't think to mention anything?" I said.

"It didn't come up?" he said, then looking at my expression said, "Look B, you're in a good place right now, I didn't want to bring it up in case I was wrong, or you didn't even see him while he was here."

"Well it would have been nice to have some sort of warning before Felix and Peyton ambushed me with him at their house."

"They did? Are you ok?" he asked, leaning on the counter towards me.

"I don't know," I sighed, "I just didn't expect to see him there you know? And he was saying all these things, like he missed me, and he still thought about me," I said taking a sip of coffee.

"I don't think he would go to all that effort after all these years if it wasn't true," he said.

"What did you just say?" I said in amazement, this morning was all full of surprises. I never thought I would see the day where Lucas would say something positive about Nathan. A part of my decision rested heavily on his opinion of it, I didn't want to risk losing Lucas again.

"You heard me," he said going back to cooking his pancakes.

"So you wouldn't mind if I went back to Nathan?" I tested him.

"If it means you'll stop moping around here, then no," he said, and I didn't even attempt to defend my moping over the years.

"So you'd be totally ok, if me Nathan got back together? And you actually had to socialise with him and play nice?"

"Brooke, I know exactly what you're doing and why you're here," he said ignoring my question and crossing his arms.

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't want to make the decision yourself. You want someone to tell you exactly what to do, and you thought coming here, I would lecture you against getting back together with him and your decision would be made for you," he said.

"That's ridiculous," I said, but it came out in a squeaky high pitched tone. There was some truth in what he was saying and we both knew it.

"B, that's the easy way out, you need to make this decision yourself; nobody can make it for you," he said ignoring my attempt to disagree with what he was saying, knowing full well what my lying voice was.

"What if I can't," I said in a serious voice, "It's too hard."

"Look at the end of the day; you need to decide what's going to make you happy. If it's Nathan, then fine, if it's not Nathan, then that's ok too. But you need to do this for yourself and not for anybody else," he said and I knew he was right. Most of my life I'd been doing what everybody else told me too, and doing things to make other people happy.

"Look years down the road Brooke. Imagine who you are, where you'll be. Imagine the kids you have and the house you live in, and the memories you'll carry with you for the rest of your life. Now imagine the person next to you. The one who'll always be there for you, take care of you and protect you and all the things you care about. Who is that person?"

I closed my eyes, and tried do what Lucas said and look into my future, but all I saw was a blank. An undecided.

"Think about it," he said, not seeing me coming up with an answer, and the frustration on my face. He walked over to the couch and pulled on a pair of shorts at the top of a clean pile of laundry.

"Whatever that is it smells great," Haley said yawning and walking into the kitchen wearing one of Lucas's LA Lakers training t-shirts.

"Brooke!" she said turning bright red. She tugged at the bottom of the t-shirt, but when that failed settled for just crossing her arms over her chest, obviously embarrassed at being caught in the act.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry, I didn't even think," I said feeling bad for just bursting in with my problems when this was one of the occasional weekends Lucas and Haley actually had together. Lucas was away a lot, in Los Angeles training for the Lakers, and during the weekends would normally fly down for the day or for a couple of hours, and then fly back to LA at night. On the rare weekend when he had some time off would actually spend the whole weekend here. I know the long distance thing was hard for Haley, but they were trying to make the most of his time in Tree Hill, for the rest of the year until the training season was up. Lucas was originally hesitant about taking the offer, but Haley convinced him it was the right thing to do, it was his dream after all. Me and Haley were actually a lot closer now, hanging out more and moping around together, two lonely hearts and all.

"I know, you're so self-absorbed," Lucas said kidding around, and walking over to Haley and kissed her good morning, their kiss lasting a second too long to be decent, which was unlike Haley, who was normally against any signs of PDA. I started to feel like I was intruding, and got up to leave.

"Oh don't listen to him B, you know you're welcome anytime," Haley said playfully hitting him on the arm.

"She is?" Lucas said, pretending to sound disappointed

"Oh shut up," I said throwing a grape from the fruit bowl at him, which he caught in in mouth and grinned.

He put his arm around Haley's waist and she leaned into him, putting her hand on top of his. Something weird was going on; they were unable to keep their hands off of each other, and it something more than the 'we just missed each other' excuse.

"Am I missing something?" I asked them slowly, trying to study them.

They looked at each other, having a silent conversation, which just confirmed my suspicions.

"Well…" Lucas started.

"We….umm…..sort of got engaged last night," she said, and Lucas pulled her closer smiling.

"You what!" I said, making sure I hadn't misheard.

Haley nodded, and held up her left hand to reveal a diamond ring.

"And you waited until now to tell me!" I screamed, rushing forward to take hold of her hand to look at her ring. "I've been here for twenty minutes already! Do you think you're both ready to get married?"

"We just didn't want to be apart anymore," Haley said.

"You guys do know you can just move in together in LA without getting married right?" I asked them. "This isn't the dark ages."

"It's not even about that. If the last year has taught us anything, it's how much we love each other."

"Yeah but you're only twenty-tw—" I started planning to make sure they both weren't rushing into something. I know they loved each other but they were still young. Sure Peyton and Felix were married, but they had Jessie, so that was different.

I stopped when I saw the ring on her finger. It was Lucas's mom's ring. I knew what it looked like well enough since I knew it was once my Grandmothers, and my Mother was a put out Aunt Marie had gotten it instead of my Father to give it to her. My mother tried to get her hands on it after Lucas's parents things were delivered to my house after the accident, but we never found it. Lucas must have held onto it all these years.

Haley must mean a lot to Lucas, for her to have his Mothers ring. This wasn't just a poorly thought out idea. I looked to them both standing together facing me. They looked so happy. After his parents died, it wasn't as easy for him to get close to people, but Haley had been so good for him, bringing out the real him. They had stuck together ever since that day they had gotten back together back in high school. Going to different colleges didn't even break them apart. They were perfect for each other. I knew one day I wanted the closeness that they had. They were each other's family.

"Lucas…" I said.

"She would have wanted her to have it," he said giving me a weak smile, and I smiled back happy for him.

"I'm so happy for you guys," giving Haley a hug, and tearing up a little. "They would have both been so proud of you, you know that right," I whispered as I hugged Lucas, knowing he had come so far in the last four years.

"Thanks, "he whispered.

"Oh, I'm going to go and get out of your hair," I told them, wiping my eyes.

"Brooke?"

"Yeah?" I said turning around.

"Think about what I said ok?" Lucas said, and I knew he was talking about our little talk earlier about Nathan, but I didn't have the energy to deal with that right now. I had been up most the night unable to sleep, my mind filled with thoughts of Nathan and when I couldn't contain myself any longer, I left early this morning to go and see Lucas. I'll deal with it tomorrow.

x

Rachel POV

Chasing someone through an airport wasn't half as simple as they made it seem on TV. First of all, you can't just demand a ticket to anywhere, just to get past security. They need your passport, and credit cards and a whole load of other stupid details. It would be a miracle if I made it on time.

I ran through a group of senior citizens on a world tour, not idea what they were looking to find in Tree Hill, and rushed into the departures lounge, and scanned the screen looking for a four pm flight from Tree Hill to New York. My heart sank as I saw it wasn't there anymore. I couldn't comprehend that I really had lost my chance. I started making my way back toward the exit, when I heard my name being called through the crowd.

"Rachel?" Jake said, walking up to me.

"Your flight?" I said stuttering.

"It got delayed. What's going on? What're you doing here?" he asked, with worry.

My heart skipped a beat as I realised that he was right here in front of me, and this was my chance to tell him.

"I…." I started, not quite knowing what to say. Now, rushing through the airport to find him looked like the easy bit. I hadn't really had time to think about what I would say when I saw him.

"Are you ok?" he said, looking concerned.

"I'm fine," said walking over to where there were less people and he followed. "Look Jake, I've been thinking about things, and I can't be your friend."

"You what?" he said, looking confused.

"I can't be your friend," I repeated shaking my head. I thought it was better to have him in my life than not at all, but it was way too painful that way to have him so close but knowing we were nothing more than just 'friends'.

"Rachel, I don't understand. Did I do anyth—"

"No, you didn't, and I don't blame you. I know there's no excuses for the way I was back in high school, and I don't expect you to just put the past behind us," he started to speak, but I put my hand over his mouth and he got the message to let me finish.

"You deserve way more than me, and I fully understand that. But I am so in love with you Jake that it physically hurts to be so close yet so far away. The last few weeks have been amazing and torture all at the same time. And watching from the side lines and being your friend, I don't think I can carry on doing that," I said looking to the floor the second I finished, completely dreading his confirmation of my thoughts. The last thing I needed right now was to hear it directly from him. I came to the airport to get my last goodbye, and it seemed I had done that, considering he hadn't said anything yet. I turned to leave and he grabbed my arm.

"Rachel, you're right, I don't want to put the past behind us," he said. Here we go, I thought as my vision blurred with tears. I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting them to spill out. He kissed my cheek and I felt a spark of electricity run pass between us.

"I don't understand. Was that a goodbye kiss?" I asked, and he chuckled.

"Rae, I don't want to put the past behind us because the past is what made us today. It's a part of who we are. Without all that you wouldn't be who you are today." he said. "I don't think I can be friends with you either."

I nodded, and smiled weakly, trying to remember every part of him before we went our separate ways. I turned to leave again but once more, he grabbed my arm.

"I can't just be friends you because I want to be more."

"You mean…" I said, frozen in my spot.

"I love you too, you goof," he said kissing my nose.

"You do?" I asked, grinning through my tears that were now freely flowing.

"I do," he said. I pulled his lips to mine for the first time in four years and he didn't resist. It was one of those kisses where we both forgot where we were, what day it was and what our own names were. That sort of kiss. My brain temporarily shut down all normal thoughts and it was as if it were running on a binary code saying: kiss him a lot. Don't stop. I remembered what it felt like the second out lips met, and couldn't believe I ever forgot. I loved the familiarity of kissing Jake, not to mention he was really good at it. I had kissed him many times in the past but this kiss had something new about it—desperation and longing and love, and I knew he wanted this as much as I did. This wasn't just an official first kiss to mark the beginning of something I had been waiting for. We had both been through so much, and grown together and apart, but it was finally our time and the beginning of our lives together.

Brooke POV.

"Hey," I said as I walked into the apartment.

"Hey. You've left early," Tori said from her spot on the couch, watching TV.

I took out a spoon from the kitchen drawer and went to join her, digging in to her tub of ice cream, not making any comments about ten o clock in the morning being too early for the sugary desert.

"Yeah, I had to go talk to Lucas about something. I'm surprised you're up; you're usually knocked out until midday on weekends."

"Well I was, until someone started knocking on the door first thing this morning, I swear you get all the hot guys B."

" What?"

"I was totally ready to rip into him for waking me, but then I got a look at him. Totally made me regret wearing Minnie Mouse PJ's."

"Tor! The guy- what did he want?" I said, trying to get the full story out of her.

"I did ask if he wanted to come in and speak to you, at this point I thought you were asleep in your room, but all he wanted was to drop off a stupid letter, and then he left. So you gonna spill? Who's the guy?"

"A letter?" I said looking frantically around for an envelope lying around, already having sussed out the guy she was talking about was Nathan, curious to see why he said no to seeing me face to face.

"Relax, it's here," she said, handing me a letter from the coffee table, with Nathan's familiar scrawl that I hadn't seen in a long time, spelling out my name on the front. No Dee. Just Brooke. The letter felt heavy in my hands, even though it was thin enough to be empty.

"Well? Aren't you going to open it?" she asked me bringing me out of my daze.

"Umm I don't know," I said, not taking my eyes off the letter.

"You're nuts," she said standing up. "While you ponder over that, I'm going to take a shower," she said stretching. "And you still owe me an explanation about the guy!" she called over her shoulder.

BPOV

I sat for half an hour at the mini dining table we had with the letter placed in front of me just staring at it. I picked it up a few times, ready to open it but chickened out at the last minute and put it back on the table again. Part of me wanted to know what he had to say following the disastrous meeting we'd had yesterday, which ended in me running out, but the other part of me thought opening it would open up a can of worms which I had already closed. This is ridiculous! I was scared of a letter! I picked it up and tore it open before I could change my mind.

_Dee._

_I wouldn't blame you if you threw this letter away but I really hope you don't. I thought about running after you and talking to you in person but I figured it would be easier to write it all down because I know as soon as I see you everything I want to say will slip out of my mind._

_I need you to know that if I knew you and Felix had broken up, I would have come to find you a lot sooner and I would have fought for you. What stopped me before was the illusion that you were happy. I regret what happened with us every day, and if I could take it back I would. I was stupid and I got scared of what we had and the intensity of what I felt. But I knew I made a mistake and if that mistake means this is the end for you and me, I fully I know that I deserve that. Just knowing that you were happy would be enough.__ We both were changed by what happened, but I am still the person you fell in love with. I have grown a lot, I have learned a lot. I will move on with my life, but I can't move on in my heart. .. You are the only one I ever wanted and will ever want._

_The truth is Dee, you changed me. When I came back to Tree Hill, I wasn't in a good place. I didn't know it at the time but what I did to Lucas, and losing a friendship that meant so much to me, affected me more than I realised, and I lost myself along the way. Knowing you brought the old me back, and for that I will always be thankful. Lee, you are the most amazing person I had ever met.__ You make me laugh at the silly things we do, and smile for no reason at all. You became my best friend.__ I know from the years that we spent apart that we are made for each other. Even if you don't believe in me anymore at least believe in that._

_Every morning I wake up and hope that the last few years have been a dream, and I didn't screw this up between us. Each morning I wished something would bring you back to me, and each morning I thought if you did come back to me Davis, I would never let you go ever again. We both know that life is not always fair. We know that there will come a time when we have to face trials in our relationship, but we would be able to overcome them because what we have will see us through. Up until I saw how much you hated me at Felix's house I still thought that was a possibility._

_This letter isn't to ask for you back, because I know that you don't want that, and I don't deserve it. Just be happy Brooke. That's enough for me. _

_I'll never forget you. I love you, I always will._

_Goodbye._

The letter slipped from my hands onto the table, and tears were falling down my face.

I picked up my keys from the coffee table and rushed out to the door, just knowing I had to talk to him.

I pulled into Nathan's driveway, and rang the doorbell a couple of times unable to stand here waiting for him. I could see a shadow approaching the door and I took a deep breath. This was it.

The door slowly opened and Izzie appeared, the once little girl now pre-teen and all grown up. Her eyes widened in realisation when she saw me. I had seen her a little bit around town , and normally shared a smile, but this was the first time I had spoken to her in years and I felt a pang of guilt for stepping out of the little girl's life who I had grown close to, when I broke up with her brother.

"Brooke?"

"Hi Izzie," I said , and looking over her shoulder waiting for her brother to appear any minute.

"What're you doing here?" she asked.

"Is Nathan home?" I asked.

"No," she said defensively, crossing her arms.

"Oh ok," I said a little taken aback by her tone. "Do you know how long he'll be? Or even where he went?"

"Look, Brooke. I like you ok, but my brother was hurting a lot after the two of you broke up and –"

"I need to speak to him Iz," I said reassuring her and giving her a small smile, which I'm sure she could figure out the nature of our conversation from. I could see where she was coming from, not knowing the full story but feeling protective over her brother.

"Really?" she said her eyes lighting up.

"Yes, but don't get your hopes up-."

"That's great! I'm really happy for you guys," she said smiling.

"Thanks Iz, now can you tell me when he'll be back?" I said happy to have her on my side, but also itching to find Nathan and rectify my mistake from yesterday.

"He isn't coming back," she said, her smile dropping.

"What!" I said hoping she was just playing.

"He's moving to New York."

"I know, he said something about that, I just didn't know when that was!" I said starting to sound hysterical. I might have really lost my chance, all down to my insistence that I had to be right all the time.

"He left like two hours ago," she said rummaging through a draw in the hallway. "He called earlier and said his flights been delayed, you might just catch him." She thrust some papers in my hand with his flight information written on it.

"Thanks!" I yelled, already half way to my car, with a new burst of energy. It might not be over yet.

"Good luck!" she yelled as I drove out the drive.

I must have broken about fifty different driving laws rushing to the airport and I would be surprised if I got sent more than a few speeding tickets in the mail tomorrow, but right now I could care less. The airport was packed with people, which I found hard to believe this many people would be passing by Tree Hill of all places; most people didn't even know it existed on the map.

I rushed up to the security gate, and ran to the head of the line, ignoring the groans from everyone standing in the queue.

"There's a line miss," the airport staff standing by the desk said.

"I know! I just really need to get through like now!" I yelled, trying to look past her into the waiting lounge to see if I could spot him.

"So does everyone else miss. If you could just join the line—"

"You don't understand! The man I love is about to board a plane, and I need to tell him I love him!"

"Oh please, like I haven't heard that one before," she said rolling her eyes. "I have seen quite a few movies you know."

"I'm being serious!" I said nearly in tears.

"Ok, ok, miss please calm down," she said looking uncomfortable. "I suppose I could let you in."

"Really?" I said relieved.

"Do you have your ticket?" she asked.

"No," I said, feeling stupid.

She gave a look that made me feel ridiculous for even thinking I could get through without a ticket. I turned back to look at the ticket line, which was even longer than this one and groaned.

"Miss, people don't usually come back once they're in," the lady said trying to get someone's attention.

I flipped around and saw Rachel walking out of the departure lounge and coming back through security, with a grin on her face. She just ignored the lady and carried on forward but stopped when she saw me.

"Brooke?" she said confused.

What was she doing here? Was she with Nathan? Had I completely misread everything he had told me. Come on, Brooke, they're just friends! , I told myself. You can't your childish insecurities get in the way.

"I was here for Jake," she said, almost as if sensing my disdain.

"Oh," I said relieved even though I knew I was panicking for no reason. "Are they stil…..?"

"The plane left already," she said, and I felt my heart drop into my stomach. I sank onto a metal bench. It really was too late.

"Were you going to…?" she said, both of us knowing what she meant.

"Mmmhmm," I said, and she sat down on the bench next to me. This was the first civil conversation, if you can call it that, we had ever had. Our verbal exchanged in the past usually consisted of insults going back and forth. I hadn't seen her in years, but she looked so different. Her hair was shorter, and she was wearing denim shorts of a suitable length and a green sweater, miles away from the minimal amount of attention grabbing clothes she used to wear.

"But I guess it doesn't matter now. It's too late," I said.

"Brooke, it's not too late. He's not moving to another planet. He's just in New York," she said, and it felt weird receiving kindness from her.

"God, I don't even know what I'm doing. I just knew I had to talk to him."

"Brooke? Could you live with yourself knowing you just let him go? And just carry on with your life?" she said. Reading Nathan's letter, and realising I had missed him now, and knowing that was a possibility to be the end, I realised I couldn't live with that.

I had to find him, and tell him that I loved him too, and he had changed my life just as much as I had changed his. There is no way I would be who am I today without Nathan. I probably would have stayed with Felix, and carried on with Yale, and never gone to St. Martins, and I would probably living the life my parents mapped out for me. Because of Nathan I learned to take a stand for my life. Before I met Nathan something was missing, I felt detached from the world that I was in the centre of, but I could connect and relate to Nathan. He became my best friend too. I had been kidding myself this whole time.

I sat up in realisation and said, "I love him," to Rachel, and she smiled.

"Then that's enough," she said. "For what it's worth, I really think you guys would make a great couple."

"Thanks," I said, in slight shock that Rachel Gatina had just said something nice to me.

"Brooke, I really am sorry about everything that happened between us. I'm really sorry about what happened with Nathan too," she said looking ashamed.

"Thanks," I said, "that means a lot."

She nodded and smiled weakly.

"Brooke?"

"Yeah?"

"What're you still doing here?" she asked.

"Right!" I said jumping up.

One week later

I stood outside the huge skyscraper in front of my watching Nathan walk through the lobby and out the doors into the crisp chill in the air, the complete opposite to the never ending heat wave back at home. My heart fluttered seeing him looking irresistible, without even trying. He was wearing a black suit, undoing his top button and loosening his navy tie, as he walked out. This was the first time I had ever seen him dressed up as a 'grown up', but it suited him.

He looked around, no doubt waiting for his car, and his gaze swept passed me, and came back doing a double take. I saw the life rush into his eyes, and he grinned. Unable to help myself any longer, I ran forward and he caught me in his arms swivelling me around.

I knew it would be a good kiss before it even happened. He placed his arms around my waist, and I moved my hands from my side to wrap around him, under his suit jacket. He slowly lowered his face to mind, and the rush of emotions I felt before his lips even touched mine was nothing compared to the flood of emotions tumbling toward me when our lips finally fitted over the top of each other. I had kissed Nathan many times before but this felt like unchartered territory. The kiss felt effortless as if it was made to happen, ordered from a speciality catalogue, and tailored specifically for us. It was a kiss among kisses. It was _the_ kiss. You know the ones you saw on movies where the guy finally gets the girl and the music cues in before rolling the credits?

I closed my eyes savouring the moment, wanting to be able to remember every little detail of this moment forever, from the burnt orange autumn leaves falling all around us, to the feeling of his hands on my back, and that was when it happened. Lucas's theory worked. This was it. This was what I wanted for my future. It wasn't an undecided anymore. As much as I had convinced myself and everyone around me that I was over him, and didn't love him anymore I knew he was and would be the only guy I would ever love. Reading his words make me realise I wanted it all. The big house, the white picket fence, the two point five kids running around in the back yard. I wanted it all and I wanted it with him. I was in love with him, and nothing would ever change that. It was him standing beside me the whole time, I just didn't see it clearly until now, and I was too stubborn to see it before. Through the last four years everyone had told me to just get over him, and assumed it was just high school puppy love, but this was the reason I wasn't able to. He was my soulmate. My otherhalf, as cheesy as that sounds.

I had a fleeting thought as his lips pressed against mine again that he was the only man I would ever want to kiss ever again.

I'm not saying this was it. That everything from now on would be an easy ride. We still had a long way to go, this was only the beginning, but I knew he was right and whatever came our way, it didn't matter because we would face it together. Who cares if we were Romeo and Juliet? Who cares if we are Nathan Scott and Brooke Davis? We're just two more people in this world fighting for our love.

But who's to say we couldn't have our happy ending? This was another time, another place after all.

**a/n: I hope that was what you were all looking for. Please do take the time to tell me what you thought, I would love to hear from those of you who have been there with me through and I didn't know.**

**Please check out my new brathan called 'Prelude to a happily ever after…' and of course I'm IN love with you!**

**I love you all!**

**Banners and covers welcome!**

**Ps. Last one out, turn out the light….**


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